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Storytime Tapestry Newsletter

The newsletter devoted to spreading love and cultural awareness throughout the world.

Additional Story for Christmas Contest ? Sharon Bryant

January 6, 2008

This one isn?t entered in the contest because Sharon already has her 4 entries in but it is worth reading anyhow.

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THE GIVEAWAY GIFT

Sharon Bryant?

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In my work place, I have a lot of different items.? Some homemade crafts, some bought.? I get tons of catalogs looking for things from the past.

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Five?days ago I went to the post office to get my mail.? One of the yellow cards was in my mailbox telling me I had a package.? I thought for a moment and was positive everything I had ordered for Christmas had come in.

I took the card to the postal guy and he handed me a box.? I recognized the name on the return address because I've bought many items from that particular company.?

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I brought the box home and opened it.? What a cool gift, I was thinking as I saw a picture on the box showing a pumpkin bread baked in it's own container.? There was also a rum sauce packet to spread over the bread.? "Oh YUM," I said to myself.? But.......I didn't remember ordering it.

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I got my check book out and looked at the last 6 weeks of checks I had written.? No check was made out to that company.? Now I was really getting stumped because I was SURE I had not ordered this item.

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I got the directions sheet from the box.? Knead the dough........and I groaned thinking, "Gee, more work to get done before Christmas."? It looked a little complicated to make the bread.? I wondered why I would have ordered it had it not been easy to make.? But.......you know the old saying about old dogs learning new tricks, so I thought, "I can master this bread."

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I was in the process of wrapping gifts for family and friends.? I then thought of someone I care about who simply loves pumpkin, and anything made with the flavor of pumpkin.? I thought, "I'll give it to her."?

I got out some cute wrapping paper that said, "HO HO HO," on it and thought that would really be cute to give her.? I made a ribbon, made out the gift tag and was preparing to give it to her at work the next day.

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When I got to work, I first?went to the building she works in.? When I didn't see her, I asked another one of her co-workers where she was at.? "She's got the rest of the week off, she won't be back until after New Years," they told me.?? "But her husband will be here tomorrow," they said.? That was good because I could give it to him and he could get it to her.

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The next day when I got to work, I went to the building her husband works in.? I didn't see him.? "Where's John at?" I asked.? "Oh, he took the rest of the week off," I was told.?

I decided I'd try and find their house the next morning.

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A couple of hours after I got home, my phone rang.? It was a good friend from Michigan who I have exchanged gifts with for many years.? "Did you get my box?" she asked.? "Nope, nothing came from you," I said.? "That's funny, it was sent priority and I was told it would arrive yesterday or today.?

I told her nothing had came from her so far.

"Well I ordered it from Cobbs Corner and it SHOULD have been there by now.? I'm calling the company and finding out what happened to the package.? I didn't say anything but Cobbs Corner is one of the company's I buy from also.? They have the cutest of things.

I told my friend if it showed up the next day, I would call her and tell her it arrived.

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Another friend called me and asked if I could help her pack a box to ship to her mom up north.? I said sure.

"I don't have any boxes at my house, do you have any I can get one from you?" she asked.? "Sure," I said.? "Come on over, bring your gift and we'll pack it up and get it on its way," I said.

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She arrived and I told her I'd see if I had a box in my?spare room.? When I entered the room, I saw the box with the bread recipe and photo on the box, sitting on the bed.? I knew it would be the right size.? I lifted the bread bowl kit out of the box and I saw an invoice on the bottom of the box.? BINGO!? Now I'd find out WHEN I ordered the bread.

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What I saw made me begin to laugh.? The invoice was for my friend in Michigan.? She had ordered the bread bowl and mix and had it shipped to me from the company.?

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Tonight I called her and asked if the box I sent her arrived.? She said yes then asked me if HER box had arrived here.? I started laughing and said, "Let me tell you about that box."

"OH NO, don't tell me it was broken," she said.? I replied, "Nooooo, not broken."?

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"Is something wrong with it?" she asked.? I said, "Well, it's a gift that's hard to get rid of."

Perplexed she asked, "What do you mean by that?"

I could hear her daughter in the background yelling, "Don't tell me that pot arrived to her broken."

I started laughing again and couldn't talk really well, I was doubled over.

"What do you mean by it's a?gift hard?to get rid of?" my friend asked again.

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I really did try to tell her.? I tried to wipe the tears that were streaming down my face because I wanted to tell her how comical this gift had become.

"You better tell me something!" she said.

"Call you back," I giggled, then I hung up.

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Ten minutes later she called me back and said, "Is the gift ok?? Was it in one piece?? And what did you mean about the getting rid of it part?" she asked.

I then told her how I didn't recall ordering it and wondered why it was shipped to me.?

I then said, "Hey, you know what, this gift was bound and determined to stay with me, no matter where it came from."? I then told her about how I had wrapped it in cute wrapping paper and was giving it away.

"You better NOT give that away, I picked that out just for you," she said.

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I laughed and said, "This is one gift I won't forget for a few years."

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(I'll let you know when I make the bread if it's worth all this hassle!)

Sharon Bryant

1946@bellsouth.net