Today, my boyfriend and I decided to give a close friend of ours an early Christmas present.
My friend and I have been looking at shoulder bags for months. She has been looking for the right bag and found it a couple of months ago. The bag, however, was quite expensive, so we kept looking. A few weeks later, we were looking again, and she said: “It shouldn’t be this difficult! I just want a bag I haven’t had drugs in”. My friend is a former addict and she is slowly getting rid of things from “that life” bit by bit. It never occurred to me that that was why we kept looking for a new bag for her. When I got home I told my boyfriend about it. He hadn’t thought about it either (phew) but we agreed that it makes perfect sense and that we should help her find one.
A couple of weeks ago I noticed that the store we saw the bag in was having a sale, so we decided to look for it. It wasn’t in the store but it was in their webshop. I looked at my boyfriend and he looked at me, and we agreed. We bought the bag for her with the money put aside for Christmas presents for each other. The good thing about Christmas for us is that we can spend money we don’t really have on presents for people we love. It’s both ridiculously irresponsible and joyous at the same time.
Today, we gave her the present. Mostly because I couldn’t stand having it at home and not giving it to her, knowing it would brighten her day (and mine). So we invited her to a café. I told her that my boyfriend needed to see people who weren’t co-workers because he had been working a lot lately, and needed a break from … well … life. In response she said: “I’ll be there! I may bring the baby but I’ll figure it out”. And she did. And brought the baby. He’s not really a baby. He is one year old but we still call him baby. That, however, is a different story. Anyway, my boyfriend wrapped the present and brought it with him and I ran from work as soon as I could.
I handed her the present and said: “Merry early Christmas”. She looked surprised and just sat there with the gift in her lap for a while, and then asked if she should open it right away or wait until Christmas. I think our response went something like: “That’s up to you but maybe now?”. So she opened it. The present was wrapped in paper but the bag was also wrapped in plastic, so she couldn’t tell what it was until she took it out of the plastic. And then she started smiling and making the sweetest irritating squeaking noise I could’ve imagined. She just sat there staring at the bag for a few seconds while still smiling and squeaking louder and louder and eventually also moving in a sort of slightly jumping manner. Her baby looked inquisitively at her and smiled slightly, and she looked at him and said: “Yes, mummy is really happy!”. They both smiled and the baby chuckled a little. And then she seemed to find herself again. She is a noisy person. I mean this is the warmest possible way. She is a relatively small woman but she has a sharp voice and a very clear body language. She started jumping a little where she sat, stroking the bag and then looked at us. She looked like she couldn’t decide wether to put down the bag to hug us or just stay where she was and hold onto the bag. She eventually decided to hug us and thank us. A lot. And it was great. I think I managed to hide almost crying.
Buying the bag for her was one of the best decisions this year. Seeing her this happy is probably the thing that has brought me most joy in many months – only a certain gift I received this summer, and one I gave, has come close to this.
I know I am being sentimental. I don’t care. Today was great.