Giving Gifts...

I have a great friend at work, Teri, who just turned 50 a month ago. I was in London for almost 2 weeks leading up to her birthday.

I had thought and thought and thought about what to get her for her birthday...but was so busy with work that I didn't have time to act on my thoughts.

Well, she is a very close friend of mine (we sit next to each other and talk ALL THE TIME)...and we're very much alike.

She's a great photographer, has 3 grown boys, and loves to look at photography. She's been monumental in encouraging me to start my JVW Photography business.

So, I got back to work on a Wednesday...and her b-day was on Friday. I thought and thought about what to do and came up with the PERFECT gift.

I IM'd her husband (he works at the same company) and asked if I could borrow her boys for 30 minutes so I could photograph them as a gift to Teri.

He called the boys, arranged them to meet me THAT SAME NIGHT, and I met them that evening. They were wonderful, and I got some fantastic shots.

I went home that night, downloaded them, edited them, and picked my favorite. I sent it off to get printed and picked it up Thursday night on my way home from work. I bought a 8x10 and a 4x6 frame (big one for home...smaller one for desk) and got it all wrapped up.

I brought it with me to work the next day (along with a cake, balloons, streamers and big 50 signs everywhere) and put it on her desk.

She was surprised about the decorations, not so surprised about my cake (in case you don't know...I used to decorate cakes) and was even more surprised by my gift.

Now, I had the big one wrapped in tissue...and it was kinda obvious once you picked it up that it was a frame. This is not unusual for me to give her a frame for her b-day or X-Mas (because as I said...she's a lot like me).

She started unwrapping it and was talking to everyone standing around her and having a great old time.

That was...until she unwrapped it, and glanced at it. At first...you could tell she was looking at a nice frame and all was well. Until it CLICKED that those were her boys in the frame...and not some cheesy random stranger that is normally on the insert.

She gasped.

She flew her hand over her mouth.

She looked at me.

And started bawling.

When people say it's so much better to give than to receive....they really do mean it.

At least I do. Because let me tell you...I haven't felt that good in a long time.

She'll treasure it forever. It's the only one of its kind (her last good photo of her boys was about 8 years ago). And I feel great.