[2023-03-26] The Easter Bunny came early
The Easter Bunny came early, leaving goodies on my doorstep today.
She has a fun way of delivering surprises. First, she sends a text with a photo of herself holding up a pretty Easter basket. My first thought is, "Oh, what a lovely photo of my friend." It usually takes a second or two for me to realize that the photo was taken on my doorstep. "Hey, that's my house!" I exclaim, as I rush to the door. I always hope that I will get a glimpse of the Easter Bunny, but she has, invariably, already departed.
In addition to hand-painted Easter eggs, the Easter Bunny's basket includes chocolates and a card with messages from her and her teenaged kids. This beautiful family adopted me at the beginning of my cancer journey. In the past almost three years, they have sent or dropped off all sorts of love, including food, hand-painted rocks, Halloween decorations for my entrance, and Christmas cards. I am touched that they continue to think of me.
Even more remarkable is that the Easter Bunny has faced her own health challenges: treatment for breast cancer, genetic testing, and—less than two weeks ago—surgery to remove her fallopian tubes and ovaries to reduce her risk of ovarian cancer. That she can be thinking of others at such a time is remarkable. Then again, she is the Easter Bunny. She is strong, positive, grateful, proactive, and a role model for her children.
She's also wonderfully sneaky. Her act of kindness today (to say nothing of her many previous acts of kindness) brings to mind this quote from How Full Is Your Bucket? by Tom Rath and Donald O. Clifton:
According to a recent poll, the vast majority of people prefer gifts that are unexpected. Expected gifts do fill our buckets, but for some reason, receiving things unexpectedly fills our buckets just a little more. It's about the element of surprise. And the gift doesn't have to be anything big to be successful.
Thank you Stealth Bunny. You filled my bucket today.
