July 16, 2006

• The gift of Love

  Whew.

  
  

  It’s been really busy around here, but in a good way. As a surprise and a gift of appreciation, my hubby and I decided to order my folks a new computer and have it delivered while I was here so I could set it up. They have been operating on a system my hubby built for them in the late 90′s… needless to say it was past time for an upgrade.

  
  

  So, all day friday I waited for UPS to deliver my “package”. I had tracked it and knew it went out for delivery at 8:42 that morning. I contacted UPS around 5:00 to make sure it would get delivered that day. They assured me that they delivered until 7:00 PM. My parents tried to close the gate to their property about 6:00 and I had to stop them. I told them I was waiting for a “package” to be delivered. I had already made a card explaining why we had done this. About 7:15…there comes the magic brown van…but wait! Where the heck was it going?? It rolled right on by. Needless to say, I was crushed. I asked my mom if UPS delivered on Sat. to which she replied “nope”. OH NO! I would be out of town on Monday and Tuesday with my mom, and I really wanted to be there when the computer got there!

  
  

  I decided to not give up hope and see if came back. I had about given up all hope when the magic van came rolling up the street. I grabbed my camera (woke up my dad who had fallen asleep in front of the TV) and went outside to sign for the box. They were still standing inside looking out the window when he unloaded the big DELL box. They were open mouth and muttering…. she didn’t…I’ll kill her! I motioned them out and snapped some pics of the delivery. They were so excited! Mom cried, dad was speechless. They found their voices when they threatened several times to kill me. We called hubby and lucky him, they offered to kill him too! It was a great night. They were overwhelmed and it felt so good to be able to do this for them. They both claimed no one had ever done anything like this for them before.

  
  

  We did this because my parents have helped us out soooo many times. They are always there for us, we want to give them something back. They were planning to buy a new computer, but on fixed income, after taking an expensive trip to Hawaii to see us, we felt like we should handle this. It’s not just the cost though. It’s something they have wanted for years and haven’t done. We decided it was time for them to have something nice that they would really enjoy.

  
  

  The next day we moved the computer desk, 4 drawer filing cabinet from the office and switched it with the bed, bookcase and dresser from the spare bedroom. I also made backups of all their files off their old computer. This was a ton of work but the results are well worth it.

  
  

  I spent today setting up their new computer, getting a new ISP, installing their programs. We are all exhausted from the work. My dad also dug a 2 foot hole in almost solid rock and planted a 19 foot flag pole in it. He’s not quite done with that, but he will be soon.

  
  

  Did I mention my dad is 72? He’s an amazing guy. He still hikes, rides his motor scooter all over town, and works like a dog. He’s also a cancer survivor. He used to ride a bicycle like 40 miles a day. Before that he was a jogger. When he was 50 he was running marathons. He’s quite a guy. My mom is no slouch either. She’s 63 now. She keeps busy gardening and keep her house beautiful and enjoying all her birds. She has finches, woodpeckers, and swarms of hummingbirds. She also watches the grand kids (the ones that live here) almost every day. They are both amazing. They deserved this, and more.

  
  

  Well, I have to go, have more software installation to get done and we leave early tomorrow for a trip to Las Cruces. I’ll try to get on on Tuesday to update and comment. Have a great weekend!

  
  

  What’s the biggest or most meaningful gift you’ve given?

  • 11:21 pm
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