What a Mysterious Gift Taught Jen Neiman About Friendship

On this episode of Our American Stories, Jen Neiman was dealing with persistent health troubles that would not go away. She was depressed, upset, and felt as if any progress she had made had been met with more bad news. Then a mysterious gift appeared on her doorstep. Jen shares the story of what she learned about friendship in her darkest hours. We would like to thank our regular contributor, Leslie Leyland Fields, for introducing her student Jen to the show.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:10):
This is Lee Habib and this is our American Stories,
the show where America is the star and the American
people coming to you from the city where the West begins,
Fort Worth, Texas. Up next a story courtesy of our
regular contributor from Alaska, Leslie leyland Fields. Here's her writing student, Jenneman,

(00:31):
with her story entitled The Mysterious Gift, Take it Away, Jen.

Speaker 2 (00:40):
Shivering. I wrapped my fuzzy blue robe tighter around my body.
The view from my second story office window revealed fat
snowflakes swirling furiously in the mid march darkness. How disheartening.
I pulled the curtains together to shut out the return

(01:00):
of winter. Grabbing a throw blanket, I curled into my
favorite chair. The low rumbling of a delivery truck turning
into our dead ended street surprised me. Isn't it almost
eight pm? What a messy night to be out making deliveries?

(01:21):
I thought. I paid little attention until the truck down
shifted and turned, headlights flashing across their upper windows. Wait
did that delivery truck turn into our driveway? Did I
order anything? My memory came up blank, but I knew

(01:42):
my husband often received deliveries for work. The truck door slammed,
Heavy boots clopped down the sidewalk, and then a ding
dong rang out as the deliverer dropped the package and retreated.
I tried yelling from the top of the stairs, Honey,
you've got a package. Can you get that? There was

(02:06):
no response, only loud music glaring from my husband's basement office. Sighing,
I realized I would have to go down and retrieve
it myself. Wearily, I descended the stairs and waited until
the truck left our driveway. With some effort, I hauled
open our frozen front door. I see wind propelled a

(02:26):
burst of determined florries inside as I stooped to retrieve
the package. Shoving the door closed with my shoulder, I
headed toward the kitchen to give the package to my husband.
As I stepped into the light, I noticed that the
package I had assumed was his was addressed to me
instead a package from me, but I didn't order anything. Confused,

(02:56):
I ripped open the protective paper covering and pulled out
a rectangular box, spying gift for seats. I snatched them up,
hoping to discover a clue to the sender, but they
yielded no help. The paper message simply read enjoy your gift,
and the sender remained anonymous. Someone sent me an anonymous

(03:18):
gift that had never happened before. I sliced open the
box and pulled out the phone protection. Nestled inside rested
a beautiful willow creek figurine of a woman, shoulders and
head aimed heavenward and arms flung outward, enabling three little
blue birds to perch. What a beautiful picture of joy

(03:41):
and release. It captivated me. The card inside announced the
title Happiness, Happiness, exactly what I needed, but which seemed
so far away. The previous March, I'd almost beaten the

(04:04):
chronic health issues i'd been battling for five years. I'd
felt so much better, But by fall I found myself
in a full blown relapse. When my illness flared, everyday
activities such as eating and sleeping became unpredictable and difficult.
None of the usual treatments worked. As winter closed in

(04:26):
and the days became shorter and colder, the situation spiraled
out of control. I began to despair. Hopes for healing
turned bleak, plunging me into depression. I didn't want to
admit to myself how badly I was struggling, or even

(04:47):
to my friends at church. How would it be seen
if I expressed my negative feelings? Would I be judged
as weak in faith or unable to cope? On the
other hand, did my honesty help others relate? No stranger
to depression? I'd struggled through dark valleys earlier in my

(05:07):
life to my dismay, I found myself in the midst
of them again. I weighed my options, remembering the first
step toward healing was being honest about the situation and
openly asking for help. Counseling might prove helpful or even
medication when needed. It took courage to start sharing my

(05:28):
feelings with trusted friends. I purposefully caught myself before giving
an automatic response that I was okay or fine. Instead,
I answered, actually, I'm struggling quite a bit right now.
Over the past month, I had shared with multiple friends,
hoping to lift this heavy mantle of despair. The gift

(05:50):
must be from one of them, but who. I placed
the beautiful figurine next to a vase of spring daffodils
I'd rescued earlier from underneath the blanket of wet snow.
The kind gesture had made me feel loved, but now
the mystery of who sent the gift nagged at me.

(06:13):
My mind raced through my various friend groups. On impulse,
I decided to jot down a quick list of friends
whom I knew to be thoughtful or generous gift givers.
At number sixteen, I laid the pen down, tears blurring
my vision. Sixteen sixteen, at least sixteen friends could have

(06:34):
sent this gift. Was still more I could add to
the list. Oh, good, gracious. Overwhelmed, I grabbed a tissue
to wipe my eyes. I realized right then that this
was the real gift. That I could name so many
good friends who might have made this sweet gesture. It

(06:56):
felt both overwhelming and heartwarming at the same time. I
breed thanks to God. This beautiful figurine was more than
just a simple gift. It had pointed me toward a
much larger treasure, one I knew would carry me through
any dark days that ley ahead.

Speaker 1 (07:22):
The mysterious gift friendship. Of course, here on our American
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(07:42):
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