Big Gifts - Small Packages

Big gifts come in small packages.

I rediscovered that lesson this past weekend – two days filled with many small blessings as family members gathered together.

Those blessing included soccer victories for kids, sharing laughs with relatives visiting from out of town, celebrating a brother’s 50th birthday and honoring my father for decades of work as a bricklayer.

Sometimes a weekend with extended family seems to cause more burdens than blessings. This weekend, however, was mostly relaxed, a chance to hang out with siblings like we used to do.

We grew up in a tight pack, six kids born within seven years, and we spent a lot of time together. We were just grades apart in school, we shared similar interests and our circles of friends overlapped, so we often ended up at the same places together. We had a lot of fun and a lot of fights, especially the four sisters who shared the same bedroom and the same clothes sizes.

The past weekend was a chance to relive some of that sibling closeness, minus the fights. The highlight for me, though, was Sunday, when my dad marked 65 years since he became a bricklayer. He and some fellow retirees were honored at their union’s picnic.

When it was his turn to come forward and receive a plaque, he struggled to get up from his chair and relied on his cane for help. He hobbled up a few feet, received his award and was handed the microphone to speak. He choked up, though, when he tried to express his thanks to all the friends he met over the years. His speech was maybe two sentences, but it was punctuated with coughs and teary eyes. I teared up, too, as I took pictures. And so did other people, including the bricklayer who presented the award, whose father also was a bricklayer and worked with my father.

My dad never received a lot of awards, and this one could be his last, my mother reminded me just days before, when she urged me to go.

And I’m glad I went. My father was grateful for years of blessings, and I was happy he shared them with us.

Inspired by the Year of Faith, Susan Szalewski began writing weekly columns for us. Although that year is over, we liked them so well that we asked her to keep writing. Thankfully, she said yes. So watch for these on Thursdays and see the Year of Faith Blog here.