Stories of Kindness from Around the World

A Gift In The Mail


--by guetv, posted Jan 18, 2015
For the love and the thoughtfulness that shaped my childhood and still cocoons me today, I can never repay my grandfather or my father...

I felt the back of my grandfather’s rough fingers caress my jawline today as he used to when he was still alive; when I was but a child…

I received a beautifully stamped envelope from the States in the mail. I immediately recognized Edith Piaf on one of the stamps and my father’s scrawl below.

Carefully, I used a knife to open the envelope, knowing that my father occasionally sends me valuable treasure through the mail.

Inside, I found another envelope. On it, I saw two scripts. The first one bore my father’s explanation:

In the 40’s, my great-grandfather bought a desk. He used it in his office at the family restaurant and when he passed away, my grandfather started using the desk.

When the family restaurant sold, the desk was moved to my grandparents’ house in Normandy. In 2012, my father decided to move the desk again and begin using it. When he did so, he looked through the drawers of the desk and found an envelope.

The second script bore my grandfather’s handwriting:

In 1972, on the eve of my departure from France to Canada, I had visited my grandparents and given my beloved grandfather a wildflower, as children will. He lovingly dried it and put it in an envelope, scribbling, “A gift from my ‘bouchon’. Will I ever see her again?”

Today, I received proof that the people in our hearts, even if their travels take them to heaven, can still touch us in the most astounding ways. Today, I felt the back of my grandfather’s rough fingers caress my jawline as he used to when I was but a child; when he was still alive…
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Readers Comments

Lucy Rodriguez wrote: Beautiful. Thank you for sharing. I never knew any of my grandfathers but sometimes imagine.
cjnordling wrote: We long for and cherish things from the past. Little things, but what huge gifts they make when they come back to us. A beautiful, beautiful memory. Thanks so much for sharing.
eckyssister wrote: Beautiful! Thank you for sharing
mcarlson1970 wrote: Wonderful, thank you so much for sharing!
gloriousday wrote: This is so breathtakingly beautiful! What a blessed way to relive how cherished you were. Thanks for sharing!
sandyremillar wrote: Lovely gift of love beyond time. Blessed indeed!
jennifersmith wrote: Beautiful story! Thank you for sharing!
SeaMar67 wrote: Une histoire magnifique! Most magical!
marylv1954 wrote: That is one of the most beautiful things i have ever heard!
k3lly83 wrote: This is so beautiful and it is so nice that something was saved that long and shared too. Thanks for sharing the memory

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