Day 59 ❦ Take time to share the gift of friendship with someone

Day 59 ❦ Take time to share the gift of friendship with someone

The Gift: Mother Africa

I am on my last day of spending a week in Boulder and have thoroughly enjoyed spending time with such good friends. All of them have welcomed me back into their lives and I have been filled with their joys, stories and triumphs. Tonight I am going to dinner at a friend of mine’s with whom I worked. I have so many funny stories I could tell about Denny, but I will sve that for another time - I will share with all of you that through an interesting set of circumstances - which involved me playing “cupid advisor” he met and married a person who was perfect for him, a woman named Ingrid and they ended up with two really wonderful boys. It makes me smile to think of them as a beautiful family.

After a wonderful dinner and walk we sit in their living room up in the mountains and really catch up - it is during this time that I get to share some of the lessons I learned while in Africa and get to present them with some of the gifts that I brought back from Africa - Mother Africa was the most fitting. What a wonderful gift to be able to share time with such great friends.

❦ Take time to share the gift of friendship with someone

Day 57 ❦ Give a little more

Day 57 ❦ Give a little more

The Gift: An additional donation to Boulder Parks and Recreation

While I am in Boulder for work, I am taking time off to re-visit some of my old haunts and today I am excited because I am driving up Flagstaff Mountain located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. A short 5 minute drive from downtown Boulder, Flagstaff Mountain climbs up several thousand feet to a summit elevation of 6,978 feet from Chautauqua Park and offers incredible views and hiking trails. But my fondest memories of Flagstaff is running up the mountain in a 7 mile race, training up the mountain and racing up it again. This particular mountain was made for my type of running, steep in the right places, lots of tangents to cut and then every now and then, the road levels off to allow us to catch our wind and start the climb over again. I love Flagstaff Mountain and even though I never won the Flagstaff race, I did take second place in the women’s division each time I raced it and my times weren’t too shabby.

But today I am just visiting and so I am going to drive my rental car up the mountain. Driving u the switchbacks I can remember each step of the road, the angles and the curves…just as I get to the half-way point, there is a gate and barrier – apparently the area is under a preservation act and is being protected…so a permit is now required and I will have to park far from the summit and walk to the amphitheater and overlooks. The fee to protect one of my favorite places is only $2.00 and I almost feel guilty paying so little for so much…so I put a $10 bill in the envelope and ask the park and rec department to keep the change. That is the least I can do.

❦ Today give a little more

Day 56 ❦ Share the gift of friendship

Day 56  ❦  Share the gift of friendship

The Gift: Dinner out with some friends

I happen to be in Boulder for work and haven’t been here for several years. I lived in Colorado for 12 years before moving to Minnesota and I have been gone for many years. It is so nice catching up with friends and tonight I have invited a friend who I have not seen since I moved close to 15 years ago. Randy is the kind of friend who I feel very comfortable with and when we meet – It is like I never left – we have lots of stories and things to catch up on and the night goes quickly. He brings his wife who I have not met and we have a chance to forge new relationships. It is such a gift for me to have people in my life who are there for forever and who can help me remember sometimes about which I have fond memories. It is especially wonderful to be able to develop new relationships within the old ones and create new memories. The gift of dinner does not even come close to the gift I received in return.

Authors note: There have been many parallels in my current life with the time during which I was experiencing the first cycle of 100 days of giving – today is the craziest parallel however, since on the day that this will post – about an experience I had 8 years ago…I will be having dinner, sharing the gift of friendship and dinner with these same friends in Boulder.

❦  Share the gift of friendship