My husband, Lance, enjoys giving gifts. He finds amazing gifts, imaginative presents with meaning and symbolism.

For example, when we purchased our lovely house on the river, he knew we had traded in our dream to live on a boat and sail far away. Okay, my dream.

He mounted our ship’s bell—one he ordered for us with the name “Tangent” cast on it (my dream boat’s name)—on a plaque to commemorate the “launch” of our house. On the ship’s bell pull, he sewed two pearls from my wedding dress. These pearls represent the pearls of our life: our children.

Another present was a blue clock carved from fossilized coral and dyed the color of the sea. It was our 35th wedding anniversary and he wanted to mark time with the traditional wedding gift of coral.

Still another present was an amazing mystery game that arrived each month in the mail, a puzzling clue sent by a stranger, and I had to solve the mystery.

History of Writing - Robin Van Auken History of Writing - Robin Van AukenToday is Mother’s Day, and he’s given me yet another amazing gift. This writing set contains a leatherbound journal, a quill pen with extra nibs, a bottle of India ink, a small lamp, a box with colorful wax pellets, and a heavy brass stamp that is engraved with my logo. I can use the stamp and sealing wax to close letters and let people know they are from me.

This stamp, from a company called Nostalgic Impressions, features an outline of my logo, which he copied and sent to them for engraving.

My logo is an elaborate “V” and “A” from the ancient Book of Kells. It represents my married name, Van Auken, but my maiden name is Kelly. The logo is my way of honoring my Celtic Heritage.

This gift for writing and the brass stamp with my seal are a forgotten, or seldom-used, system of communication and I was so touched by his thoughtfulness, I had to dedicate this episode to the history of writing.