the present of presence

Today I received a message from a dear friend that she had got me a gift to say thank you for being there for her. Yay! I love presents! (who doesn't?) but it got me thinking about what I really miss in my life today, and that is the presence of some pretty awesome important people.  Some of these people have since departed this realm and others I assume are too busy, distracted or perhaps just tired.  All reasons can be validated as life is what it is for the individual at any given time. However....

I began thinking about how as a society we sometimes buy presents to make up for our anti-presence. Mother's Day is upon us this weekend in Australia, and I'm fairly certain that most people will be hitting the stores for the perfect "thank you Mum, i love you" gift.  I'm not a Mother but I would love to hear from Mums - is there the perfect gift out there that validates all your hard work OR would you rather the present of presence from your offspring? (Not going to mention that entire "the TV creates the expectation of a material item on certain occasions" notion)

If we didn't purchase presents for birthdays and holidays and simply made ourselves present for these special occasions, would your friends and/or family be offended? upset? Maybe it is something we all need to think about.  We are all here for a certain amount of days and there is no greater gift than that of friendship. I know what I would choose, do you?......