A Visit by My Neighbor

Mary, my neighbor across the street, came by this evening with a bag of Christmas presents and a whole lot of books under her arms. We usually look after each other, and when she and her husband are out of town I take care of their two cats and they in turn look after our mail when we're gone. We usually chat when we see each other, share an occasional dinner and they came with us to look at the house which we were thinking of buying.

So she came over right after work. She wanted us to open our present here and now, warning us that it wasn't new but she thought we would like it. And OMG - we do like it!!!

She bought these elves years ago at Neiman-Marcus. She always enjoyed them, but now she wanted us to have them, hoping that we will enjoy them for years to come. I'm pretty sure that we will do exactly that. But how sweet is this? I was almost speechless (doesn't happen often, I can assure you) about her lovely generosity. 

This is my favorite elf:

Then she gave us the books - old books that she had owned for years, but now feels that they need a new home and thought that our home would be perfect for them. These are the books:

Now what kind of a treasure is this? These books are from the 70's and early 80's and gorgeous inside. You learn about how Christmas is celebrated in different countries, their traditions, music and recipes. How could I not like it?

These are a few pages in the book about Christmas in Germany:

"Silent Night" and the history of how the song originated.

(if you click on the picture it will be enlarged and you can actually read the story)

Instructions for crafts projects

German Christmas art

And of course there are some recipes included.

This is an incredible gift. I will treasure this for years to come, I'm completely sure of it. It's not just the gift, it's the giving from the heart of my neighbor, her thinking of us and how much we would appreciate this wonderful sign of friendship. I am so touched and deeply grateful for the wonderful neighborhood I'm living in. We are some lucky people and really felt the spirit of the season tonight.