The Gift

Here's the girl with the broken clavicle. She has been shopping with Baba for gifts for her parents and brother: in the rain, on foot, with her arm aching in a sling under the raincoat. After walking for about twenty blocks, searching, searching, she found what she thought were the perfect gifts. She brought them back to Baba's house, and we wrapped them in shiny paper and put bows on them while drinking peppermint tea and eating almond cookies, listening to Christmas music. Then she curled up on Baba's couch. Slowly, inexorably, she slid into a deep sleep, clutching her soft toy, wrapped in the fuzzy red blanket that has warmed her since she was a toddler. 

Here is the gift. This moment. Priceless.

P.S. Three years and one week ago, I posted a very similar photo.