A Very Special Gift

I mentioned in an earlier post that we received a very special gift in the mail. I don't think it was necessarily intended to be a birthday present for Asher and Nolan, more of a family gift, but given the contents it was fitting that it arrived on the boys' birthday.

(Disclaimer - if you don't follow hockey this post won't mean a lot to you, but read anyway because the sentiment is unbelievably thoughtful.).

Some background to the gift...

For a very long time (20+ years - ouch!) I have been friends with Christa and Adam. Adam had an incredibly successful NHL career with the Quebec Nordiques turned Colorado Avalanche and then the LA Kings. Unfortunately, Adam's career was cut short by injury, but he is now back with the Avs on the coaching staff. Christa and Adam are also parents to 9 year old twin girls.

Anyway, several days ago Christa sent me a message telling me to keep my eye on the mail. Initially, I thought they may be sending mini-Avs jerseys to the boys because Christa had made a jab at our family picture in Canucks gear (rightfully so, I know we're ridiculous). When the present arrived it was too small to be jerseys so I was even more excited to know what the contents were. Jordan and I were both literally ripping it open at the same time. It went something like this:

"Hmmm. It's a purple tie". I could only see the back so I flipped it over.  "Ok, it's a purple tie that says "Hockey Fights Cancer" - cool, something charitable". I then unfold it to see that it's autographed. "Cool! Adam has had this autographed by some Avs".  I look and see two names that I can't make out and turn to Jordan. "Who's #22 and #33 on the Avs?........OH.MY.GOD!!!!!" I stare at Jordan in disbelief while it takes a second to register with him. We look at the signatures and suddenly it's clear as day. HENRIK SEDIN. DANIEL SEDIN. I start to cry.

They have sent us a tie signed by Henrik and Daniel! I am freaking out trying to figure out how this all came about, and my first assumption is that Christa has bought this in some hockey charity auction. Then I glance at the envelope and notice it's not Christa's writing, but Adam's. Then I look at the stamp and notice it is Canadian, and the postmark is from Calgary. Hmm. This is getting interesting.

I run to the computer and check the Avs schedule and see that last week they were in Vancouver (duh, I watched the game) followed by Calgary the next night. So then I reeeeeaaaally start freaking out realizing that Adam has had this signed by the Sedins last week.

In the meantime, Christa has responded to my frantic emails and has confirmed that is what happened. Adam traveled to Vancouver with the Avs, passed the tie along to someone to get the Sedins to sign it, then brought it to Calgary and mailed it from there. Originally, Christa had intended to send me the tie (worn by Adam on "Hockey Fights Cancer" night) so I could donate it to charity (she thinks of my mom and cancer related charities). But then Adam realized they were about to play the Canucks so he could orchestrate the signing by the Sedins. So clearly, this tie is not getting donated to charity, and will be framed in the boys' room!

I literally cried every time I thought about it yesterday. This was absolutely the most thoughtful gift and made our day. Not only did they go to all this trouble to get it signed, but specifically by the twins. According to Jordan, the ONLY thing that could have made this better is if Trev was lurking around and Adam passed the tie to him to get the Sedins to sign it. HAAAA, we are insane.

Thanks Adam and Christa - you guys are the best. What a memorable gift!