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SUPPLEMENT TO MeHENRY PLAINDEALER - PAGE 14 -FRIDAY, AUGUST », 1»78 Children recognize beauty of a personal, 'living" gift By GRACE M. STANISTREET © A letter came for me today, "me" being a teacher of many years -- and many children. It was from Chris, a teenage boy who had once been a student of mine. Letters of affection and appreciation do not come easily to most of us at any age. Is it any wonder, then, that I felt glad and at the same time very humble to receive this long, lovely letter? It made me remember the many times that I have felt humble before youth. Children have the art of giving what I call "living gifts." You ask, "What do you mean by living gifts? Do you mean loving gifts?" No. 1 mean living gifts. "Oh, then," you say, "you mean something alive or something that sustains life, like a gift to a cause?" These are living gifts, yes, but not the ones I'm talking about. 1 mean a gift that has cost someone time, effort and thought. II i campus strategy" 1 Campus st rategy th is tan is f ind ing comfor tab i 1 coior fu ! combinat ions; put togethers that wi l l put you on the Dean's L is t and the campus ' l best dressed l is t a^ wel l . They re easy to f ind ^ la t Genevieves Genevieve's 1315 N. Riverside McHenry 385-0238 Hours: DAILY 9-5:30 SATURDAYS 9 TO 5:00 wzzm USE OUR FREE LAY-AWAY PLAN! I am reminded of a friend who is eighty years old. She recalls that as a child she had bought something for her mother. She had sacrificed some of her weekly al­ lowance to save for this par­ ticular gift, and she was so very proud to present it. When the package was opened the mother said, not unkindly but without really thinking, "What did you spend your money for that for?" Seventy years have passed and the memory of that hurt is still there. It takes a special awareness to recognize a liv­ ing gift. An American woman liv­ ing in Mexico invited two friends to her home for a birthday. She lived some dis­ tance out of town. One of the friends, also an American, was driving to the party when she saw a woman with a heavy pack on her back walk­ ing in the same direction. It was a very hot day and the woman in the car thought, "I wish I could give that woman a lift," but the highway was separated from the walkway and she couldn't stop. Sometime after the woman in the car had arrived at her friend's house, the woman with the pack also arrived. She was an artist, a potter, and she had brought several pieces of her work so that her friend might choose the one she liked best. When it came time to leave, the American with the car begged to drive her home. But the Mexican artist said in her halting English, "Thank you, but, the walk is part of the gift. " I mentioned to a friend that I was taking a trip by car to parts unknown. She said, "Oh, the AAA comes in handv for that." I said, "We gave up AAA sometime back, but we do miss it on occasions like this." Three days later my friend came to the house with guide books and a tour mapped out in a Triptik from AAA--a living gift! When you have received a package from the other side of the continent, or just a hundred miles away, have you ever thought about the time and effort that person put into its mailing? First, a box of the right size must be found, then papers for the inside and outside, then the tape or string to fas­ ten it. The address must be looked up (was it apartment 3F or 3E and what is the zip code?), and a pen found to write it all down. Now to the post office. It's closed. Oh well, tomorrow. Tomorrow and the car has a flat. At last the post office, where there's a long line and you must get to an appoint­ ment. The line moves slowly, but finally the window comes into view. The stamp is put on the package, and then-- only then--is it on its way. Surely the "walk" was part of that gift. I am reminded of a box of blue, the loveliest living gift I ever received. It came from a little girl, very little, who knew that I loved the color blue. On my birthday she stood before me, hands be­ hind her back. "You'll never guess my present," and then w i t h a r u s h s h e s a i d breathlessly, "It's a box of blue." She brought it out and placed in proudly in my hands. It was wrapped in blue paper, a bit wrinkled, and tied with a lopsided bow of blue ribbon. "Open it!" I did, and inside I found: a blue crayon, a bit of blue rib­ bon, a piece of blue glass, a paper butterfly painted blue, a scrap of blue cotton and a flower, dead, but blue! Yrar Complat* Lock Crater A. Matter combination padlock with *tainle*s steel case 325.1212 Deluxe thermos lunch kit include* colorful lunch box and matching 8-oz. thermos bottle*. 143-7441 Stock up now on Ray-O-Voc general purpose batteries. Choose 'C' or 0' size. 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