A Highly Unusual Gift

Yesterday my dear friend and colleague, Kathy Nimmer, sent me a gift. Out of the blue, no special reason, but "just because I treasure your friendship," as the note tucked in with it said.

Inside was a carved stone necklace with a horse in the middle. It was carved by Sidney Bolam, a former student of Kathy's who now makes her living as a stone cutter and artist.

Kathy and I have been friends and colleagues for years, and she used to come and team teach or guest lecture in my classroom several times a year.

Kathy is blind, but you soon forget that because you begin to see new insights and ideas as she shares her thoughts and knowledge.

She doesn't even shy away from using the board to illustrate the point she is making!

Nacho, Kathy's guide dog, helps her get to where she needs to go, and often we drive together to her speaking engagements across the state. (Nacho likes to reach over the seat and lick my cheek whenever he gets into my car.  Such a sweet boy!)

Good friends ARE a treasure, as Kathy said in her note with the pendant. 

I absolutely love my new stone pendant. But I also like it for a more unusual reason - it is tactile. Having Kathy as a friend has made me aware that there are experiences that she and I cannot totally share. I can describe the beautiful sunset or tell her that my horse is a varnish roan Appaloosa, but Kathy has to fill in the dots with her imagination.

This necklace is three dimensional and she could feel the outline of the horse and its subtle defining marks before she gifted me with it. She KNOWS what this pendant looks like. That enables the two of us to fully share and enjoy the gift of the pendant together.

That, for me, is the cherry on top of the gift.