I don't know if some would call this a habit or a gift, but I for some strange reason I always seem to remember the littlest things, regardless of how much time passes between the day when that memory occurred and now. Alot of the time, it's because that particular moment or occassion had (and still has) sentimental value to me, therefore it becomes practically engraved in my brain to where I can still picture certain things or faces when it happened. This came back to me when I was watching "Elf" two nights ago..
I was thirteen, and it was the last day of school before Christmas break let out. Every major holiday (aside from Easter) student council did this thing where you'd pick out a little piece of candy, write a messege and then send it to someone. I do remember that alot of people commonly called it a "Candy gram" so to speak.
Now I don't know about all of the other girls, but I was one of those that would always hold my breath, hoping and wondering whether or not I was going to get one. (I lucked out during Halloween and made it a point of letting my friends know how I felt about it. Yes, it was shallow, I know.) Today I find myself chuckling over the fact that getting one of those things was so important to me at the time; but in most cases, I don't think it was neccessarily whether or not you got one. What really mattered was really who sent it and what it said.
Anyway, the student council officers began passing them out while I multi-taskingly kept my fingers crossed and tried not to get my hopes up. There were some that only got two or three, while this one guy next to me got five or more (I can't remember how many exactly, but it was quite a few). Finally after what felt like the longest time, someone handed me a card with a little candy cane attached to it.
It was red and had a picture of a little German Shepheard on the front of it. I turned it over, only to see that the sender spelled my name with an "i" instead of a "y" and had simply written the words "Merry Christmas." It didn't say who it was from, although I had huge suspicisions because I recognized the handwriting. I didn't officially find out until Christmas Eve, when my Mom and brother told me who it was at dinner.
Nearly five years later, I still have that card tucked away in a little box; not because of who it was from neccesarily, but rather that someone took the time to do something incredibly kind when at time in my life, I wasn't sure how many kind people were out there in the world. It motivates me to remember that the littlest things can often bring the biggest joys. It's something I've chosen to hang on to as 2009 slowly comes to an end and we go into 2010, my last month or so as a child before I officially become an adult.
