Queen of Steam

Remember that movie, It Could Happen to You, with Nicholas Cage ... about the guy that wins the NY Lottery and has a blast giving it away in unique and fun ways? No I didn’t win the lottery today. But I kind of understood that feeling today. One of my friends celebrated a 60-something birthday. Now, I’m not going to tell you her exact age—that would be rude. (But there’s a great old song about a US Route that shares this number.)

Anyway, my friend—whom I’ll call Queen of Steam (QoS) because she has more energy than a stadium full of toddlers—gave me a little bag full of beads about a week ago that had belonged to her mother. Her mom passed away a few months ago. QoS was raised by a lady who was into Yoga, organics and all-things-green long before anybody else even thought about it—so she lived a long life, blessed with three cool kids. So, I used her beads (along with some other new and vintage baubles I had) to make her two necklace/earring sets (see one, at right). When I gave them to her, her eyes welled up and she hugged me. You see, she’d really been missing her mom—this being her first birthday (and Mother’s Day) without her. She thanked me about 50 more times before the end of the day and emailed me that my gifts would now be passed along to her granddaughters. It reminded me that no matter how much we age, the love we have for Mom never fades—it only grows stronger.

It feels so good to give from the heart.