The Gift of the M
My holiday was great.There are plenty of reasons why, but I'm going to concentrate on one particular aspect: my sister. I love my sister infinitely and unconditionally. She has been my best friend ever since she was born, and our relationship has always been wonderful.
It has been so wonderful, in fact, that I didn't think it was possible for me to really know her any better.
But this holiday, she surprised me. The story goes like this...
A month or two ago, my dad hinted that my sister and I would be getting iPod nanos for Christmas. I was really excited about this, since my old mp3 player stopped working ages ago and I still hadn't gotten my hands on an iPod of any sort. Of course I relayed the news to my sister, but she wasn't as thrilled. She had more of an "Oh that's cool" reaction, but she wasn't as giddy over it.
Then, a week or so before Christmas, my dad posed a question to me: "What would you rather have, electronics or jewelry?" Well, since my dad had just brought in all of his Christmas gifts for people at work, I assumed he was asking what he should give to a woman at work. So I said jewelry. It wasn't until later that I found out he asked my sister the same question...and that he meant for me to answer the question about me (duh).
My sister told him she'd take the jewelry since she figured I'd want the electronics. And yes, she was right...if I had understood him correctly, I would have said electronics. But my dad told her my answer, and she told him she'd take the electronics to make me happy.
We compared stories and quickly realized that there was only one iPod (the electronics) and a very nice piece of jewelry to be split between us. I cursed my idiocy as I realized that I'd be getting the jewelry and my sister would be getting the coveted iPod. At that point she even said she'd switch with me once we opened the gifts, but we figured we'd see how it went. I knew I'd get an iPod eventually even if I didn't get one on Christmas. However, I was still pretty disappointed.
Now to Christmas Eve. My sister opens one of her gifts, and it's an 80 Gig external hard drive. She loves it, and she and I both think it's the electronic in question. We are happy that everything worked out...maybe there are two iPods, or no iPods at all--fine either way.
So then I open my jewelry, and it's this gorgeous black band bracelet with a diamond heart in the center. It's a niiiice piece of jewelry...very classy, and it's really my style. I'm happy.
That is, happy until a few minutes later, when my sister opens the iPod. The only iPod.
"Crap," I say totally out loud when I see it.
We fill my parents in on the little issue. But before anyone can say anything else, my sister offers it to me. Right then and there, she just gives it up. I say no, she can keep it, but she assures me it's okay.
"Just don't show it to me again," she says jokingly.
So now I've got the nice piece of jewelry (which is worth more than the iPod) AND the iPod. Honestly, I didn't expect it. I figured once she had it in front of her she'd be too captivated by it and just tell my dad to get me my own. We're hi-tech girls, after all, and we never pass up a chance for a cool new gadget.
But my sister says she's perfectly happy because she got other great gifts. She feels grateful for what she already has.
I feel grateful for having such an amazing and giving sister.
I hug her tightly and I start to tear up.
I love her! I love her even more than my new iPod. And that's sayin' a lot.
If I've learned one thing this year, it's that family is the best gift of all. On to 2006!
PS: M, don't worry...you're going to get your own iPod soon enough.
posted by Sleepy Girl @ 12:20 AM
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