A gift

After a gray, rainy day, and sitting in rush hour traffic for an hour and a half, there are few things better than coming home to a care package tucked neatly under the doormat at your front door. Especially if the care package is a totally unexpected and unnecessary surprise from a good friend, and included three things that you specifically said you loved, wanted, or needed.

First, loved: Graham crackers. We were in the car one day, and Julia asked me to list my top five favorite foods. I couldn't. You may have noticed, but I'm not an enthusiastic eater. I don't really like a lot of foods, let alone "bad" foods that most people would list as their favorites. But graham crackers are the one snack over which anyone who knew me in my early 20's could attest that I have little control. I rarely buy them anymore for that reason, but once in a while will indulge myself with a box that will usually be gone in a few sittings.

For the record, I listed coffee and wine as two of my other favorite foods. I don't think I was able to come up with a four and five. Cheese, maybe, if I had thought of it. Yogurt? I'm really lame.

Wanted: a phone charger for my car. Would be nice not to worry about a low/dead battery in case of an accident. It looks like the charger will also work with my iPod as well, which is a nice bonus.

Needed: a new rubber case for my iPhone. Mine was torn along one side which, while still usable, compromised the safety of my phone, should I ever drop it. Which you know I do. I actually almost bought a new case at Target last week, but none of them were the right model, color, or price, so I passed. How cool is it for one to literally appear at my fingertips, in the exact color I wanted?

And how cool is it that Julia took note of and remembered all that? In this day and age, I feel like so few people really listen. Everyone skims and nods their head and takes back bits of the bigger picture, but details get forgotten if they were ever even absorbed to begin with. I do it, too. We're all so busy and distracted and not entirely engaged. This was such a welcome reminder of how good friendships can be.