Day 6 - 8 - Leaves

I've called this blog posting leaves because it is the thing that my past three gifts have in common. :-)

On Friday I met with a new friend for my first Zumba class. This a woman with whom I have much in common, personally and professionally, and have known of for several years. Despite this we had only met earlier in the year when we were both speaking at the same conference and have only seen each other a handful of times since that time. Yet we are well on our way of building a sisterhood between ourselves and expanding our community by closing the degrees of separation between our friends. We're both women in our forties who have returned to school after a long absence so I also see some study dates on the horizon.

After our Zumba class this Friday, we went to Whole Foods to have something healthy to eat. While we were there, she fell in love with some tropical flowers that reminded her of her home country (Jamaica.) When we went online to pay for our food, she told me, "I'll go with you, and just give you cash."

When we got the register, however, she was a little short. In fact, the amount of cash she hand covered the beautiful flowers she had decided to buy on whim. My friend said, "OK, is it OK if I just give you what I have, and we hit an ATM when we get out?"

"How 'bout you just let me buy you lunch?" I said.

"Are you sure?" she said, "We're both starving students."

"Yeah, but I have it today." :-) And then she thanked me and gave me a hug.

The following day I had to work at one of the best jobs a writer can have. I'm a writer-in-residence so to speak for this wonderfully innovative reading program sponsored by the National Book Foundation. I'm one of five, and every semester we take two field trips with some of the groups in the city. The already fun trip is made more so because I get to go with my best friend who teaches at another site. We never fail to have a good time with the kids and staff.

One stop on the field trip is always a bookstore and the National Book Foundation allows each child (and we lucky teachers) to spend up to $25.00 on the books of their choice. I always get more than my allotment so I pay the difference for any extra books I buy. As I was paying for these books, the cashier asked me I wanted to buy a book for its annual holiday book drive. Every year Barnes and Noble asks its customers to purchase books that they then give to needy children. How could I not? I told the cashier to add HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON to my bill.

Finally, I've been experiencing a bunch of technological snafus lately and had to head over to my cousin's house for internet access so I can finish my school work. My cousin lives two blocks away from me in what was once our grandmother's house. My cousin and I are only a few years apart, and for many years in our twenties, she lived with my grandparents. We've been through a lot together, and I dare say that among all the cousins, we are the ones who are the most like siblings (and we've had the fights to prove that!) With my parents in Puerto Rico, my brother in FL and my sister in GA, it's nice to have family so close for the holidays or even a Sunday dinner.
So on my way to her house, I picked up some pink roses to show my appreciation for her -- the meals, the loans, and most of all, the love.

So whether they were flowers or books, all my gifts these past few days involved leaves. ;-)