I was given the opportunity to speak to the senior girls. Part of me wanted to keep my mouth shut. What could I offer to girls whose lives revolved around homework,  the field hockey score, and the fit of the dress they will wear to the dance? In some ways I skirted around the whole teenage experience. Singing with my guitar, and volunteering in the elementary school were higher on my agenda than shopping for shoes. One time I was walking barefoot, as I often did, and a store owner discreetly took me aside and offered me a pair. My mother was horrified. 

Still I have pondered and prayed for most of a month as I wondered what to say. 

Presents. Everyone likes presents. Life itself has been an opulent gift and it was fun to fill homemade fabric bags for each student. Chocolate is always a good place to start. And a gift card to my favorite bakery. I felted soft wool around bars of soap, and practiced a little monologue about innocence and the remarkable truth that we are always washable. Always.

Marriage is my theme song, and I slipped back issues of the Caring for Marriage newsletter in beside the chocolate. Maybe the girls would read them. Maybe not. I used to mail it to my son years before he was married. One day he saw his roommate looking at it. 

"You read my mother's newsletter?" He was incredulous.

"You don't?"

One of the traditions our family has is snowflakes. We cut them out with names, which magically transform into lacy patterns. The twins helped me make one for each girl, and we laughed that the list included letters most sought out in the alphabet game. A q. Two x's, and a z.

I thought it might give them context to see a picture of my family, and included a Christmas card photo. If insurance companies can send Christmas cards, so can I. 

The theme of gratitude is throbbing through the congregation this fall, and the importance of expressing it. So I included a paper cast card, and a quilted one for sending to someone who has blessed their life. 

The notion of including one of my cds left me stumped. Kids don't use cds anymore do they? Still music is a facet of who I am, so I slipped it in, with a long stemmed rose.

I wanted to tell a story about how angels take care of us every moment, and found a box of lace angels in the basement.                     . 

The last nutty idea was to include an egg from my sweet hens. They have brought me joy, and eggs are an image to me of something fragile that needs to be protected. Like these young girls' hearts.

Done.

Mostly I am hoping to tell these girls in words, and in chocolate, in flowers and in paper that they are loved.