the greatest gift

I have written, if I remember correctly, about some of the worst gifts I (or anyone) could imagine receiving. But recalling the best gift anyone has ever given me is a different story all together, and the winner isn't an obvious choice; however, there is something that I'd be inclined to attach the title of 'best' to.

It was July 15th, 1993 -- my tenth birthday. My dad bought me one thing that stands out above the baby-sitter's club books and clothing from Gap kids ... a huge book, entitled "The Fitzhenry and Whiteside Book of Quotations". I hated it, at first. I didn't even know what a quotation was. The book got stashed on a shelf in my room and I gave very little thought to it for a couple of years.

But as I got older, I started going back to it. I found quotations for essays, assignments and projects. I found quotations for birthday cards, for letters -- for celebrating successes and for comforting friends and for encouraging people I loved. I found quotations for diary entries, and quotations to help me focus my day, my month, my year. My 11 year old copy of the book is now tattered, ear-marked, high lighted and scribbled in. There are stars next to some entries, others are circled. A few pages are missing at the back, where I needed paper to write down a friend's phone number while I was on the bus in high school. And in retrospect (although I could have never predicted it at the time), it was the best present I've ever been given. My dad, for all that we struggle, must have known something that I couldn't have.