Wish that we wish...can come true!

We wish for things and then we move on.  When we were small we held out hope those wishes would come true, those packages would be delivered, those ribbons would unfurl to reveal our deepest desires.  As adults we know more often than not we must make our own happiness, wrap our own gifts.

But today I bring you a story of wishes fulfilled.

On October 26th I blogged to you about a wish I had.  I wrote of something sinfully decadent.  Something extravagent and unnecessary, but so enticing to me I couldn't stop desiring it.  I didn't think anyone was really listening.

Two envelopes slipped themselves into my lap on Christmas Eve.  They were unassuming things, neatly wrapped in mint green paper and tied with gold ribbon.  They felt light and pliable in my hands and I couldn't for the life of me guess what they contained.  As my attention was torn between helping my children unsnarl the two thousand twist ties keeping their toys prisoner inside molded plastic and my own meager unwrapping, I barely noticed my fingers slip off the ribbon and remove the paper.

And then they were in my hands: eight sheets of glorious bookplates set to proclaim "Ex-Libris Michele Emrath."  I barely looked at them and I know I must have insulted the gift-giver, but they are so precious to me I had to hide away their colorful faces from the little faces that surrounded me!  I love them and I cannot wait to get home to Raleigh to place them in my 'chosen' books.

Said gift-giver is my sister-in-law Rachel.  You all know her as the wife of Scott, my brother-in-law Nick.  She is also a supporter of this blog and my writing, a mother of two beautiful little girls and an excellent giver of gifts.  In honor of our wishes this year and instead of physical gifts, she donated money to charity in my husband's name and helped provide prenatal care for six women in Afghanistan.  So not only does she have to put up with Nick/Scott, she has a heart for others and a knack for gift-giving.

For more on bookplates and their history, click here or check out Lew Jaffe's blog, Confessions of a Bookplate Junkie.

Postscript: I am driving my children home to Raleigh today, so I won't be available to comment. Catch you all tomorrow!