Good Gifts

Coulter loved to give good gifts to those he loved.

He would spend hours and weeks looking for just the right thing that would speak to that person, comparing countless products against each other for that perfect one; a necklace for his girlfriend, a particular knife for one friend, a tomahawk for another or a custom graphic T-shirt for a goofy uncle.

When Coulter was about 13, I mentioned a tool that I wanted but didn’t really need and wasn’t going to buy for myself. Months later, from that one conversation, he remembered the tool, found it, and bought it for over $100 of his own money.

For his mother, he wrote poetry in her birthday and Mother’s Day cards, speaking to his love and appreciation for her.

One of his closest friends asked him to make her a tiramisu for her birthday, which Coulter regularly made and sold. He threatened to charge her the full price for it, which his mother and I jokingly gave him a hard time over. We did not find out until she delivered his eulogy at his celebration of life, that he was just joking and when she insisted on paying him, he snuck the money back into her backpack without her knowing. He never told us and just let us think that he charged her.

Often, I would overhear him on his phone making plans with friends for dinners or outings, and would hear him say something to the effect of “That’s ok, I’ll pay for you,” or even “ . . . them.”

Coulter was more than generous. He listened to people and learned about them; what they were interested in; what was important to them, what they loved. He paid attention to the people he loved and delighted in finding ways to show them that they were known and valued to him.

All that was good in Coulter was a reflection of the goodness of his Heavenly Father. Coulter's desire to give good gifts reflected, imperfectly but beautifully, our Father, who knows us perfectly and delights in giving His children good gifts.

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! Mt. 7:11

You Are Loved More than You Know.
#coulterslight #suicideprevention #suicideawareness