Meaningful Gifting... a lesson

Thank you for all of you who came to the birthday party on saturday. Although it did not quite turn into the huge party I expected it was fun and great to see and meet you all. Parties seem to be, sometimes, like entities of their own out of the control of the hosts. The enormous varieties of dynamics brought together by mixing twenty, thirty or a hundred relative strangers together is impossible to predict. Sometimes, like storms off the Atlantic they spin into something bigger than expected and sometimes just fizzle out despite the best efforts and intentions. This party had all the makings of a category 4 hurricaine going in, and yet barely made tropical storm strength, then quietly settled down later to a just large group of strong friends enjoying the late night together. Said simply, it was a dud.
The most important point of my evening came not five minutes before I was sobered up and ready to drive home. I had just told my great friend Christine that I was ready to go when Arvilla showed up, tapped me on the shoulder and said hi. Arvilla is a reader and friend from myspace whose only mistake this night was trusting me to invite everyone to a raging party. Sadly by the time she got there the party was completely over and reduced to freinds playing Guitar Hero in the basement together. Not exactly a party in which blending would be encouraged. In fact just the opposite was true. It felt, as it would to me or to anyone else, awkward. However what Arvilla came for was very special and meant a lot to me. She reached out to me by bringing me a card and a gift for my birthday. Not just a gift as so many are passed around for various holidays, but a true thoughtful gift. Not the type of gift I expect from family members as my real birthday on tuesday approaches. Not the type that I have been guilty of giving and so have you. Not a random expenditure of twenty or fifty bucks to get something pretty, something they might not buy for themselves, or did not even know that they wanted. But one that will sit out in my living room and make me smile for years. It was the best type of present. I thoughful one, with energy put behind it, not just money. What we all have to realize is that whatever we as people have the least of is what is the most prized and cherished by others. If I have a lot of money, then a gift that costs more than the average will seem trivial or expected. However if I have a lot of money but am very busy and I spend time with someone for my gift, spend what I have the least of, what is the most important to me, then that gift will be the most special, the most meaningful. Children experience this regularly i.e. Paris Hilton. Time is not the gift given some, only money, where money has little value on its own. Dont feel cheated if you give an expensive gift, yet have more than an average amount of money and dont get the responce, or the gratitude you expected. Your gift was generous, but no more relatively than anyone elses. The person you are gifting, knows what is the most important to you and realizes when they are getting your least important.
I want to say here a huge thank you to you Arvilla. You are a person meant for more than you realize I believe. You have more inside than most, a depth that probably scares many people because they float closer to the surface. I see alot of myself in you(whether that is a compliment or not I wont say) and in the end your heart and thoughtfulness will pay off to make a life worth looking back on. One you will be proud of. I look forward to knowing you long enough to see what goals you achieve and what you become. Thank you very much for your thoughfulness, it meant a lot to me.