The Tiffany Necklace

This has been a hard week. Last Sunday, I finally gave in and let my grandmother lend me some money. I am 34-years-old and I really don't think I should be borrowing money from my family at this point of my life. It was humbling to say the least.

I have been trying to sell some things on eBay for some time now and I think I am finally getting the hang of the process and have actually started to sell some things.

One of the items was a Tiffany necklace that I had been given as a gift many years ago on my birthday. I sold the item last night and the buyer sent me an email. I had written on the ad that the necklace was in very good condition because I had planned to give it to my daughter someday. I had saved the original Tiffany boxes and wrappings. He wrote me to ask why I was not giving the necklace to my daughter now.

I wrote a few brief sentences about my situation and he replied, "i just sent your payment by paypal, i would like you to NOT send me the necklace. Please give it to your Daughter."

That really made me tear up and I ended up crying very hard. I told him I could not accept his offer. I went downstairs and talked to my mom, who was there to watch the kids for the day while I worked. She said, these things don't happen very often. Just try to accept it.

The man responded back that it was not charity, and that God had given him more than he would ever need.

I asked him if he was sure, and he said, "absolutely, be well."

I have been rather emotional about this all day. But I thought about what my mom said and I decided to put the necklace on for good luck.

One of the hardest things for me to accept in selling all these things was that I would not be able to give them to my daughter some day. She LOVES jewelry - putting it on, even looking at it. I thought I had come to terms with all of that until today, when this gesture reduced me to mush.

Now I know when I do give this necklace to my daughter someday that it will be more than just the original story of getting it for my birthday many years ago. It will be a story about acceptance and grace and getting through this really tough time. It will be about a stranger named Paul in South Dakota, who caught a tiny sentence in my ad, and took the time and initiative to know why I was selling my necklace. Who immediately put funds into my account without getting anything in return.