I do these exchanges for the giving. Getting a match, reviewing their profile/posting history, selecting & sending them their gifts; reading their post when they receive it; the whole process feeds my inner-Santa. Creating joy for another (even for a brief/temporary moment) is my drug.

The receiving part of these exchanges is always an afterthought. And I don't make it easy on my matches; no Amazon wish lists, no specific items. Just basic descriptions of "likes" and hobbies. This isn't intentional - I have a hard time asking anyone for anything. Gratefully, I'm routinely blown away that a stranger is willing to spend their time, effort and money on me.

The box contained two things. The first was an abundance of bubble-wrap. One might dismiss that as simple careful packaging. But I knew that my Secret Santa had discovered a bubble-wrap related comment of mine from a year ago. The second thing in the box was a Kindle Fire HD. Had to stop for a few moments when I saw that. While sitting there stunned with appreciation I noticed the Kindle Fire box had been unsealed/opened. I removed the device from the packaging and powered it up. Though I use the Kindle App - I've never had a Kindle device. I started playing with top level menu options and clicked on "Books."

There is a question on the Exchange Preferences that reads, "What are your favorite books and/or authors?" I listed three authors. It appears that my Secret Santa purchased and downloaded every available book by those three onto this Kindle Fire. The image I included in this post shows about 1/3 of the total books in the library.

Secret Santa - I am not able to properly convey how much your generosity and thoughtfulness means to me and Thank You seems insufficient somehow. It is gratifying to know that people like you are out there, touching lives like mine. You're "good people" and that is a tremendous honorific in my world.