My lovely daughter in law Suze has her birthday on 21st December, the very busiest and most frantic time for anyone, let alone a Restauranteur x 2, (yes she runs 2 restaurants in a high profile Auckland CBD), Wife and Mum to Three Teenage Daughters!! Very early in our relationships we agreed to have Christmas presents for the children only, but both Christmas and Birthday gifts would be given for the children. And as my Adult Children and Their Families moved around the World it became difficult and very expensive to find and courier suitable Birthday gifts to the grandchildren, nieces and nephews. So a new plan emerged, whereby NZ money was banked into appropriate bank accounts with the oversight of parents. Tho' she would never say so I am sure that Sweet Suze didn't get full value from her 21st December Birthday Flowers each year because she would be organising staff holidays, big family Christmas dinners and she was frantically busy keeping the 2 restaurants staffed and running smoothly. Something had to change to really show Sweet Suze that I loved her dearly, every day, all year! I searched and searched for a personal, special gift that would hit the mark. That I would feel good giving and Suze would be delighted to receive. Something that said 'I love You Suze! I know that Life can be really tough sometimes and I want you to know that I've been there too, and it does get better'. My feet were killing me and I was no nearer to finding that 'Special Gift'. I wandered into a shop that I had not seen before, really to see if they had a chair or stool I could sit on for 15 minutes please? Yes they did have a chair and as I relaxed my throbbing body I was able to study a grand assortment of perfect gift ideas. But this was a new world to me and I needed help! The kind lady who had brought me the stool asked if she could help in any way, and before I knew it this whole little story came tumbling from my mouth. Can I make some suggestions? she asked and as I nodded and put my walking stick aside she brought me a glass of cold water, nectar of the Gods! Not much later this lovely helpful lady had asked the amount I wanted to spend and before I could finish the water she had a selection set out on the counter. I chose a truly lovely colourful diary with thoughts, flowers and keep-well wishes for each day, at $50 that was half the amount I wanted to spend. And, feeling refreshed and in less pain I retrieved my stick and wandered around this store of wondrous ideas and gifts. My eyes lighted upon a collection of beautifully coloured and gold etched hand made chocolates. Wow! I used to make Easter Eggs for my family and friends 4 decades ago but had lost the recipe in one of my house moves - why is it you only lose very special things that have no monetary value but are worth a fortune? There were 5 differently coloured and flavoured hand-made deluxe chocolates, in my mind that was a special treat to go with the special diary for whichever day Suze chose to eat them. At $10 each that brought the total to $100, the exact sum I had wanted to spend. Back home the next day I hand made a card with lots of orange hearts on the paper and did some practice calligraphic writing until my gnarled fingers came unstuck enough to be able to hand-paint a message in gold paint with a very fine brush. Suze should receive her couriered birthday parcel today, I just hope the chocolates haven't spoiled in the heat, and I hope Dear Suze can sense the joy I felt as I was very caringly being helped by the friendly Staff to make her very special birthday goodies from Plum Organics Papamoa the Best Birthday Gift I had ever given her. Jxx
