Did You Know Love Can Come in a Jar?

That's right. Love can come in a jar . . . or a box, or even a book for that matter. At least it has in our family. My kids gave me this beautiful jar (which they decorated) for my birthday. Inside are notes from each one telling me what they appreciate about me. Ask any mom if she'd rather have something like that or a new pair of house slippers. I know what my answer would be!

When my kids were young, we gave Grandma a box with little slips of paper inside. Some of the children were too small to write it themselves (& I wanted it to be legible!), so I acted as scribe & asked what they love about their Gran. The responses were truly priceless. "I love the way Grandma smells" & "Gran always has change for the ice cream truck" were some of the things we wrote. She has read those little notes over & over.

For Christmas last year we made a book for Grandma. It is filled with her own words describing her life (taken from letters, journals, etc.) & many family photographs. The artwork on the cover is one of her original watercolors. All this was done by using Shutterfly. Judging by her reaction, I think this was one of the most meaningful gifts she's ever received.

I noticed the thrift stores are filled with sweaters that shrunk in the wash or furniture with scratches. But gifts that contain our love & memories seldom find their way to Deseret Industries or Goodwill. These things don't rust or get old. The longer I'm on the planet, the more I realize what I really value most--like love in a jar.