The best gift you’ve ever received.

I always say the absolute best gift I have ever received is my son. However, I realize that I don’t “own” him. He is a person, but I still feel that his the greatest gift and I thank the universe every day for him.

The best gift I have ever received?

It isn’t really a thing, not in the tangible sense. I’ve re-written this a couple times because while I’ve gotten a lot of beautiful and thoughtful gifts, I still think my kiddo is my favourite. Then it hit me.

In 2017 we took my mother-in-law camping with us for two weeks. Our goal – to see an (almost) full solar eclipse in southern Alberta at Writing on Stone Provincial Park. A place she used to go camping with her late husband.

Now, two weeks in a 32′ RV with your mother-in-law? Crazy right? We did this once before in 2005 when we scattered my late father-in-law’s ashes. That trip was 10 days and by day 8 – it was stressful.

However, this time? Not even close. We had the most fantastic trip! Ate lots of ice cream, took many walks, went to museums, saw the sights, ate well, visited. Laughed a lot, ate more ice cream. She wanted to make sure her grandson had all the ice cream he ever wanted.

I was also trying to learn to knit at this point in time. Now, my mother-in-law was not only an accomplished seamstress, she could crochet and knit just about anything. So who better to teach me to knit? I can crochet anything. With a pattern, without – I can look at it and pretty much make it. I can sew as well – so handiwork is not a foreign thing to me.

But knitting? I couldn’t tell my “knit” from my “purl” (yes, they are two different things). My neighbour had been trying since February of that same year to teach me! By the end of the second week she looked at me, as she ripped out a few rows of my work and said…

“I think you better just stick to crocheting.”

We saw the eclipse and enjoyed the day. It was a unique experience. While it wasn’t 100% totality, it was about 95%.

A few years later, my mother-in-law developed dementia and she passed away in 2023. The 2017 trip was her last camping trip and while she knew it at the time (she was 85), she was still able to nearly run circles around all of us. The time with us, with her grandson, and camping in all the favourite places she once shared with her husband meant so much to her – especially being able to see them one more time, and share them with her grandson.

Sharing that time and those memories was really one of the best gifts. Being able to just stop, have the ice cream, and enjoy one another is not something I think people really get to do. We really had all the time to enjoy the trip, the stories, and the memories my mother-in-law wanted to express. What an incredible gift.

Post inspired by 30 Days of Gratitude by Ordinary & Happy