Mary Beth Sammons - Gifts with Heart: Inspiring Stories, Handmade Crafts, and One-of-a-Kind Ideas

Copyright 2002 by Mary Beth Sammons

All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations in critical articles or reviews. For information, contact: Conari Press, 2550 Ninth Street, Suite 101, Berkeley, CA 94710-2551.

Conari Press books are distributed by Publishers Group West.

Cover Photography: Neovision Europe/Photonica

Cover Design: Ame Beanland

Book Design: Laurie Anderson

Author Photo: Sheila Von Driska

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Sammons, Mary Beth.

Gifts with heart: inspiring stories, handmade crafts, and one-of-a-kind ideas / Mary Beth Sammons ; Foreword by Susannah Seton.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 1-57324-768-5

1. Gifts. 2. Holidays. 3. Special events. I. Title.

GT3040 .S35 2002

394-dc212002000330

Printed in Canada.

02 03 04 TC 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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For my grandmother, Bridget McMahon, who reached out to me with a kind, helping hand and, in her gentle loving, taught me what giving with heartstrings is all about. And for my children, Caitlin, Thomas, and Emily, the greatest gifts of all, who keep her guiding light and spirit shining.

It's not the things that can be bought that are life's richest treasures,

It's just the little heart gifts that money cannot measure.

They are the things that can't be bought with silver or with gold.

For thoughtfulness and kindness and love are never sold.

HELEN STEINER RICE

by Susannah Seton, author of the Simple Pleasures series

When I first read the wonderful stories and suggestions in Gifts with Heart, I was reminded of the time I received a true gift from the heart. Awhile back a friend treated me to one of the most special nights I can remember.

I had helped my friend with a long-term project she had been working on. She was extremely grateful and decided that as a thank you she would create an unforgettable evening for my husband and me. She enlisted another friend in her plan; dinner reservations were set up, a baby-sitter was found for our daughter, and my husband and I were sent off to a wonderful, romantic dinner in the city.

When we arrived at the restaurant we were treated like royalty. The waiters knew our names, and my friend had pre-ordered our favorite dishes. As a final touch we were serenaded with our wedding song. Throughout the evening, we began to realize all the time, planning, and research my friend had put in to create the perfect date for us.

In the three years since we had had our daughter, this was the first time my husband and I had been out alone together. It was a wonderful night that neither of us will ever forget.

Often the perfect gift is not something found in a store or catalog, but rather something you find when you recognize what a person most needs in his or her life. My husband and I needed that date night. We needed that reminder of the magic of being out again, just the two of us. Let Gifts with Heart inspire you to give and remind you that it truly is the thought that counts.

When I give, I give myself.

WALT WHITMAN

I began writing this book with a piece of crumpled white paper in my hand. I had set out to write a guide about giving for the true joy of it. My idea was that in giving you most likely want someone to receive the pleasure of your giving. Your goal is to surprise loved ones with gifts beyond what's offered at the shopping center and in TV commercialsunexpected treasures, big and little. I wanted to create a sourcebook for celebrating any and all occasions with gifts that shower abundance and gratitude on everyoneincluding you. And, since I love giving, I fully intended to share my thoughts on the miracle that when you give, you receive.

Certainly, I had the feeling that you already knew that giving of yourself is a priceless treasure. But as I went about writing and talking with other women and men, teens and children, from all ages and walks of life, searching for lists of unique gift-giving ideas, something much larger emerged. I call these discoveries chance treasures. They came first in the form of my crinkled piece of paper; later via phone conversations, passing comments on the train en route to work, conversations at the water cooler, overheard strangers, over coffee, on the sidelines of the soccer field, in interrupted messages on my cell phone, in letters and e-mails, and seemingly everywhere I turned. I didn't have to go very far to make these discoveries; I just reached out to friends through all these venues, and the stories of Gifts with Heart came pouring inso many, in fact, I could barely keep up with them.

What I now know for sure, from everyone who shared their thoughts and feelings, is that gift giving has nothing to do with the gift itself, but with the spirit the gift is carrying from the sender to the receiver.

On my crumpled piece of paper is a picture of a wreath, drawn with green crayon in a child's hand, in circles, with a red bow underneath it. Inside the wreath is a poem about never giving up hope, about how nothing happens unless we believe in it, and how only in continuing to believe and hope can we move forward in our worlds and thrive.

I have carried this paper with me, transferring it from purse to purse, unfolding and refolding it at least once a day for the past five yearsever since it arrived wrapped in pretty ribbon and tape under my bedroom door. It was a gift from my daughter Caitlin, who was eleven years old at the time. She somehow understood that the gift I needed wasn't pretty-smelling soaps or another book (although I love books), or any of the usual presents on my wish list. In her gesture, she communicated volumes about what was going on in both our hearts and spirits.

My friend and one of my mentors, Jack Shea, a theologian, says, The perfect gift is one that carries one person into another. On the morning I received my wreath, and every time I reach into my purse and open up my piece of paper, I experience a chance treasure, and I realize that this is exactly what Caitlin was doing for me, carrying her spirit into mine and opening her heart.

To me, this is the embodiment of what gift giving is all about. During the time she slipped this ribbon-wrapped message under my door, our family was going through a sad, painful period. In some part of her, Caitlin must have known what it has taken me four decades and hundreds of interviews to know: that it truly is the thought that counts. A gift pleases as much for what it is as for what it represents: you, your time, and your genuine appreciation. When you give in this way, the way Caitlin did, you give a piece of your heart.

This is the revelation I hope to share with you in this book, Gifts with Heart. It is about the mystery of love. And it opens up the question, every time we give a gift: Does this make a meeting of spirits happen?

I believe we need to answer that question and to look under the surface at what a gift is capable of communicating.

In Gifts with Heart I present treasured memories of gifts received, my own and others, organized by the personalities, passions, and lifestyles of the recipients. I believe these suggestions for gifts will add sentimental value not only to special occasions, but also to every day of the year.