These Gifts Need No Ribbons

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Body surfing

By Susan Dromey Heeter
Joyful Musings

I muse joyfully on gifts – gifts not tied up in ribbons and bows but simple gifts, gifts of time, gifts of talents, gifts of health, gifts of nature, gifts of love.

Susan Dromey Heeter

I muse joyfully on friends who share their gifts – my friend Katie who sings so beautifully, my friend Jo who shares her love of children and babies so readily, so effortlessly.  I muse joyfully on my sister’s ability to put jewelry together, to wear it so fashionably and simply.  I muse on my late Dad’s penmanship; he put John Hancock to shame.

Gifts are meant to be shared. So when my neighbors share their recipes for bread, their garden’s harvest, I am deeply grateful.  I can barely grow a toenail and their garden is amazing.  I treasure the gift of my friend, Vicki, to make me laugh – uproariously – at the most inopportune times.  I treasure the gift of generosity when someone lets me in during major traffic.  I delight in that moment of the waving in – the “here, you go.” At that moment, I am entirely grateful for that gift of kindness.

And I, too, like to share my own gifts – including my gift of being, undoubtedly one of the best body surfers on the planet.  When I took off for Rye beach this week – to celebrate the gift of solitude and to bask and borrow Anne Morrow Limburgh’s stellar advice in “Gift of the Sea” – I was riding the waves and heard, “SENORA!” And, yes, one of my high school students appeared in the water next to me. So, I shared with this astonishingly talented lacrosse player the gift of riding the waves.

“Wait, wait, wait” I told him, “If the you see the foam of the waves, you’re too late.”  And he tried and tried and we laughed. And his gift to me? He gave me a good laugh and reminded me that even a woman in her 50s can sometimes outdo even a varsity athlete.

And as I muse joyfully on gifts, I invite you to celebrate yours.  Please share them, dear readers. I’d like to know of your gifts, your talents you are sharing with the world in 2017. And remember, no gift is too small, no talent so minimal to be overlooked.  Do share. And also, I am now on Twitter and can be followed @dromeyheeter.  Perhaps I’ll tweet the secrets to a good body surf.

Susan Dromey Heeter, a writer from Dover who recently let her hair go au natural white, debuts her new column “Joyful Musings” at InDepthNH.org. Dromey Heeter is a secondary Spanish Teacher at Dover High School and the mother of two teenage daughters.  Writing has been her passion since her English majoring days at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.  Dromey Heeter has lived in The Netherlands, Alaska and currently basks in all things New England, including the frigid winters. An avid swimmer, Dromey Heeter’s great passion is to bring back body surfing as most children have no idea how to ride waves without ridiculous boogie boards. She also writes about thrift shopping and all things frugal  in a column called “Budget Vogue” for the New Hampshire Union Leader.

 

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