"Suddenness Wonderment"

Photo above by: http://www.flickr.com/photos/quietdelusions/





When Daniel was about ten, I bought an item of jewelry on Ebay from China. I thought I might keep it, or perhaps give it to someone as a gift. If it were genuine it would certainly have been a very good buy. The ad was clearly written by someone in China who had limited experience in speaking English, a lot like my facility in Russian. In the Ebay ad the seller said that with every so many dollar purchase, he would include "Suddenness Wonderment". I was intrigued. I wanted the jewelry item, but I would love to receive some "suddenness wonderment" whatever it was. The kids and I discussed for awhile what suddenness wonderment could be. I think Daniel thought it should be a marvelous computer game of some kind! I had almost forgotten about it when the small package with such interesting labels finally came in the mail. I opened the package, and it was a rather nice ring. It had been a good buy, and was in a lovely wooden custom made box. I looked inside for the suddenness wonderment. I am not sure what it was or if the man actually included it in the package.
Daniel and I, and now the other kids and I, often joke about the quest for suddenness wonderment, whatever it is. I can tell you after contemplating this question on and off for years now, that no piece of jewelry, no car, no pastry, no thing, can give us the ever elusive suddenness wonderment. However, I believe I caught a glimpse of it once watching the first egg hatch when Daniel's rooster Ross and his hen, had chicks and we aided them by placing some of their eggs in an incubator. I believe I had it when I heard Daniel's voice in the past couple of years, waking me from a sound sleep. I believe I have felt it when I watched a tornadic thunderstorm earlier in the year. Suddenness wonderment, I think, is a thing which comes from God, and is not something human beings alone can orchestrate very well. Even the talent shown when we hear a musical performance which leaves us in awe, is talent given by God. Whatever true suddenness wonderment is, I wish you luck in finding some, and in keeping it.
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Update: One of my children e-mailed me upon seeing this blog entry to tell me that "suddenness wonderment" is a phrase derived from "Chinglish". "Chinglish" results when a person who has composed a grammatically correct entry for the internet in Chinese, places it in an internet translator. The basic idea may well come across, but certain words and phrases may be misused or even created. His thinking is that the seller of the jewels meant to say, "Great surprize" rather than "Suddenness Wonderment". I think I am sticking with the Suddenness Wonderment. I could use all the positive phrases possible, even if the phrase does have computerized origins.

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Stacy Marie