Gifts of hope and cheer
When one gives a gift, it is said, a part of the giver goes with it. Once, during my young, foolish and love-struck years, I consulted my male cousins on the best gift to give to someone special. They replied, “Prima, give him this cologne guaranteed to bring out the M-A-N in him.”
Did I really want that? It did bring out a primeval reaction, all right — from me — but it was an allergic reaction so bad that I threw the cologne down the drain. Sporting a sullen face, I exclaimed, “If I gave part of myself in this bottled gift, I want it back, pronto.”
But truly, gift giving becomes eloquent, deeply meaningful, when it comes from the heart. When you receive a brightly wrapped gift, you can almost hear someone sing, “Yes, my heart belongs to you.”
Today, I walked into a garden tucked into a little corner just around where I live. There, beneath a shaded section of this green oasis, I saw an arrangement of gaily-wrapped boxes that could make any young-at-heart jump with excitement. One gift box was dressed and trimmed more opulently than the next, and each one, I was told, held a surprise inside it.
“The mystery will still be unwrapped,” said a genial and affable lady, Luisa Perez-Rubio, founder of the Makati Garden Club.
I looked around the little garden and I saw more gracious and charming ladies who all gave a face to the wise words “Happiness is the cheapest thing in the world when we buy it for someone else.”
In a little cottage next to the garden, I saw Christmas trees trimmed with flowers and ribbons with one particular iron grilled tree painted in gold and trimmed with pretty decoupage eggs. I recalled that once upon a time, I used to make these decoupage eggs to give as Christmas presents, too; that is, until my husband complained of too much meringue and leche flan and omelets in my weekly menu. Nothing wasted, right?
Next to the trees were art paintings and these, too, will be auctioned together with the gaily-wrapped boxes and abundantly decorated Christmas trees on one special night, Nov. 29, at the Manila Polo Club.
I learned that every year, a group of ladies work to contribute their time, resources and, in sweet fashion, their gift of persuasion, to bring relief to those in our midst who are now struggling with pain, poverty and hardship. They call this event the Festival of Trees.
Through this fundraising activity, the Makati Garden Club and the Philippine Business for Social Progress hope to raise at least P2.5 million to build an initial 30 homes in the worst-hit town of
The festival’s winsome ladies could be anyone’s sister or auntie or grandmother who may be untrained, unskilled in many of the things they’re called to do, but they’ve learned that their “yes” goes further than any talent.
What may not be obvious is that in all their giving, instead of being emptied, they find themselves blessed — more blessed than the eyes can appreciate.
I read somewhere that there’s nothing as beautiful as a giver’s heart because it’s very much like God’s own.
Ladies may talk and worry about their loved ones or compare the medicinal qualities of herbs and plants or share ways to preserve and enhance our fragile environment, but what remains constant is a sincere desire to do what’s good and noble. They listen and look for opportunities to do just that.
Think about it. It’s a lasting gift one ultimately gives to oneself.
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For more information on the Festival of Trees, call Jean Alingod-Guittap of PBSP at 527-7741 to 48, the Makati Garden Club at 817-2738/2608, e-mail fot@pbsp.org.ph or visit the website at www.pbsp.org.ph.
