Chocolate

My birthday present from Marcel came in the mail today, all the way from Frankfurt, Germany!  Look at it!  Do you think I am in love with it?

I have never met Marcel.  We became Facebook friends five years ago and chat regularly, so I feel like I know him.  Marcel just turned 25 a few days ago.  He and I share a last name, and that is how we became friends.

When I joined Facebook, I did a search for people with my last name, since it is a somewhat unique name and I do not know many people who have it.  I sent friend requests to several Mattils, and a dozen or so responded.  Of those, I am still "friends" with a handful, but it was Marcel who became a real friend.  We do not know if we are related, but since the name is so rare, and since my Mattil ancestors were German, we think that it is likely that we are.

Our Facebook chats began about music.  Marcel is a huge Lenny Kravitz fan (I am not) and that became a springboard for our conversations.  A couple of years ago, Marcel asked me what Tommy Hilfiger polo shirts would cost in the U.S.  I had no idea.  But a few days later, I was in line to check out at Marshall's when my eyes wandered toward an entire rack of Hilfiger polo shirts priced at $24.99!  I checked with Marcel about size and color and mailed two shirts to him.  After that, in every picture he posted of himself, he was wearing one of the shirts.

But there was the matter of how he would pay me for them.  He asked me if there was something I would like from Germany.  Now I have been wearing Birkenstocks since 1983, and I can certainly buy them here, but that was the only "German thing" that I could think of.  I told Marcel the style, color and size, and he sent me a pair immediately.  We were even!

This past summer, Marcel and a friend visited the U.S. for the first time.  They chose the West Coast for their visit, and I was too busy with other things to fly out to meet them.  But I did arrange for them to stay with dear friends of mine for a short time, and I did help him with some other parts of his itinerary. 

A couple of weeks ago, Marcel told me that he and his girlfriend are going to visit Florida this coming November.  I am definitely planning on heading down there to meet him this time and offered, again, to help him plan his itinerary.  He casually mentioned something about how he could repay me for my help and I replied in one word:  Chocolate!

And then today, the package from Germany!  I immediately broke into one of the hazelnut bars, and yes, there is a difference between American chocolate and German chocolate!  But beyond the melt-in-your-mouth goodness of the chocolate, I am touched by Marcel's generosity and thoughtfulness.

And chocolate is so easy to love.