A box of hearts...

A mystery box was delivered to our doorstep this afternoon.  "Scholastic Books" it says on the outside, and I fondly remember the Scholastic book fairs at school and how much fun there was to be found inside a book box...but now?

I recognize the name on the return label - Lorelei, a friend of Ken's, a runner he met a few years ago who is an elementary school teacher.  We've been working on trying to get together for lunch but I just never seem to be able to keep myself upright long enough to drive to catch up with her and her partner in crime, Kelsey, to plan our Komen run in May.

But here's a box from Lorelei, so when Ken comes home we open it together.

Inside is an adorable, warm and comfy hand-knit hat along with a beautiful wooden bracelet, and a note.

Underneath these beautiful gifts, however, is a box filled with Valentine's cards. "I planned on giving them to you at our Chili's date," she says, "but we still wanted you to have them!  The cards are from my 4th graders.  Just a small way to show you we are thinking about you, praying for you, and admiring you for how strong you are!  Keep fighting!"

A box of cards from children I have never met, who don't know me but are thinking about me.  Their cards are beautiful and genuine and honest and sweet.  They know that I run, and that I have cancer.  And that I'm fighting.  

 

They share their hopes for me to recover, to stay strong, to eat chocolate, to be happy, to live life, and for my dreams to come true.  What they may never know is that their construction paper cards and hand-cut hearts have left an indelible mark on my own heart.  They remind me that everyone matters and that we are all connected to each other, even if we don't realize it.  Those little things we do every day really do make a difference in the life of someone else, even if we never know it. 

A box full of hearts...a box full of love, and laughter, and light, and hope.  And so very, very much strength.