The Oddly Perfect Gift

(Names have been changed to protect the innocent)

Thanksgiving (Nov. 24th) this year was a little different from those in the past. Instead of cooking the big turkey dinner at home, we opted to eat our turkey-and-all-the-fixins at Cracker Barrel.

Yam and Spud were home from college, Darling-Sister-In-Law was in town and The Colonel's parents joined us from across town.

The fact that we ate at Cracker Barrel wasn't what made this Thanksgiving so different...it was the little presentation given by Darling-Sister-In-Law, when we got back home and as we all sat on the back porch, digesting, enjoying the excellent weather and one another's company.

Darling-Sister-In-Law was standing near the steps with a piece of paper in her hand and a small gift bag at her feet.

She began reading...

"Today we come together to celebrate another prosperous year. Those who work have jobs, those whose work is finished are reaping the benefits, those who seek higher knowledge have the opportunity to do so.

We are able to be together as a family, we are healthy, we want for nothing.

But today, that is not all we celebrate. For one among us has reached a milestone they set for themselves.

Bird, you have now been a "Jones" longer than you were a "Smith".

You can't choose the family you are born into but you can choose who you make a family with."

She then hands me the little gift bag which contains a small, beautiful box. I open the box and inside I find a pair of pretty, Victoria Secret panties and Darling-Sister-In-Law says,

"As a "Jones", you will never have to share underwear."

I am surprised and very touched by the words and the gift. During all of the upcoming holiday preparations, I had forgotten about this milestone of mine, but those I chose to make a family with did not.

My In-Laws had not forgotten my tale of having to share underwear with my four sisters and always seeming to get the ones without enough elastic in the waistband to keep them up and having to resort to using a beaded Indian belt to cinch them around my waist.

The words, the gift, the thoughtfulness (and humor) are such things that make me feel so blessed to have chosen the right people to make a family with.