the unexpected gift

I received an unexpected gift at Christmas time
This silver compact
I wondered why really...
The giver and I don't usually exchange Christmas gifts

I almost didn't even find it
it was buried in a box of wrapped chocolate truffles
which I thought was the gift in itself!

My husband got up off the sofa one night
a few days after Christmas
as I was sitting next to him blogging, or reading or something
and as he left he asked if I wanted anything
and I said bring me one of those milk chocolate truffles
he began to dig through the box
and said "there's a present in here"

What??!

and there it was this beautiful silver plated compact mirror
engraved with my name no less!?!?

what sparked this....generosity?!?
I don't even carry a purse?!?
maybe the last time we were together I went around with spinach in my teeth all afternoon!??!
or maybe what I thought was introspection
was really seen more as self-absorbtion?!?
and she was gently trying to make me aware of that...

I couldn't figure it out...
I sent her a thank you letting her know how unexpectedly excited I was to happen upon her gift
and shared the little way we discovered it!
then
I put the compact into a drawer in my bathroom vanity
only to rediscovered it the other day when I emptied out my 'second drawer'
I eluded to this Lenten practice in this blog post last week

(I know it's not even Lent yet,
but I've sort of given myself a head start
because I think I'm going to have a lot of work to do)

So those questions have been kind of echoing around in me
do I need to be more aware of my personal grooming and keep the stuff out of my teeth...
or do I need to perhaps increase my outward interests and be a little less self-absorbed....

I'm such a lunatic sometimes

but I eventually got it...
while trying to photograph this new acquisition to my life the other day...

first I was just trying not to catch too many reflections in it's very reflective surface
trying to make pretty
manipulating it
creating
doing

but then I opened it
and suddenly I had photographed my own reflection...

and...

I realized...
no one would go though all that trouble to personalize such a nice gift?!?
without genuine affection as the motive...

she just wanted to give me a nice gift
she likes 'me'?!?

why does that always catch me off guard
it's sad that my first reaction isn't to understand...
that simple gift
'you are loved'