This Little Light of Mine...

Gifts aren't always a celebration of happy times, but can go a long way to help people feel a little better when things are rough. When my friend was diagnosed with cancer, I wanted to find a personal gift to give her a sense of strength and hope. The solution ended up having two parts that tied together well.

Gift solution part 1: A glassybaby -- a beautiful, strong, hand-blown votive candle holder made in Washington in a small company founded by a woman who had her own battle with cancer. A percentage of the company's profits go to help cancer patients with their living expenses. But charity aside, these really are a lovely, substantial little work of art.

So...it was a good gift, but there were stories behind it. I wasn't going to be there when my friend opened the gift, but I wanted to tell her all about the glassybaby company, and why I chose the purple color, and my memories of traveling in the Northwest with her, and my hopes for her good health.

Which brings us to gift solution part 2: custom gift wrap. This was the fun, personal part of the gift. I typed up a letter explaining the stories behind the glassybaby and used it as gift wrap -- a legal-size page fit the box perfectly.

Here was my friend's response to the gift:

The UPS guy just knocked on my door, and my purple beacon of hope is now sitting between me and my monitor as I do cancer research on the internet. It couldn't have arrived at a more perfect moment. The light and hope are needed and appreciated!