A small gift.

I have a lot to do this morning but I got sidetracked by my coffee mug. Not so much the need to fill it but how much I love this mug that was a college graduation gift 19 years ago. When I graduated from the University of SC, this was my gift from Burgin and Mark Riley. We’d been friends throughout high school and college. Back then, I was clearly in a cow phase. The cow phase has passed but my love for this mug has not.

When a saw them last week, they couldn’t remember the coffee mug. Their only recollection is that every time I have seen them over the past 10 years, I thank them for my college graduation gift and take great delight in letting them know I start every workday with it in hand.

It just goes to show you, some gifts and thoughts have real staying power. A gift that seems cursory to you may touch the recipient’s heart. So much so that 19 years later, they’ll still talk about it.