As many of you know, I like birds. Big Papa and I have created a backyard habitat to entice them with feeders, birdhouses and an old birdbath. I spend a lot of time (or at least I used to pre-parenthood) taking pictures of birds. And, bird nerd that I am, I even named my daughter after a bird (hence her blog nom de plume, Baby Bird). So when I received a beautiful hand-drawn picture, of the bird that inspired my daughter’s name–from a very special friend–I was deeply touched.

My little friend, R., is only eight-years-old.  R. lives on the other coast so we’ve never met, but I came to know about him because he is the son of someone I met through our adoption journey. We share a unique bond because our birthdays are on the same day. Our friendship began when I started sending him birthday cards on “our” birthday. I remember how much I liked getting mail as a child, especially mail from all the way across the country. Hearing how much R. enjoyed getting a birthday card from someone he’d never met always put a smile on my face.

After we adopted Baby Bird, I sent R.’s mom a copy of the story I’d written for Baby Bird, a story that tells her about the country where she began her life, the city she lived in, and the people who cared for her until we became her parents. In this book, I describe how Big Papa and I chose the name she now bears. R.’s mom told me he was absolutely fascinated with this piece of our daughter’s story, so much so that he drew a picture of “her” bird to send to me.

Recently, I framed my friend’s artwork to hang in Baby Bird’s bedroom. I look forward to the day when she understands where her name came from because then I can tell her the story of a little boy who made two mamas hearts swell with pride and happiness with his simple, yet meaningful, gift.

It isn’t the size of the gift that matters, but the size of the heart that gives it.

~Quoted in The Angels’ Little Instruction Book by Eileen Elias Freeman, 1994

Want to see more gifts from the heart? Check out Delicious Baby Photo Friday.