It is among the nicest gifts I've received. It is an image of what one incredible woman can do with a piece of glass – and words of Love.

   "I made it so beams of different colors would shine through…like the light you bring to me and so many others," my younger sister Martha wrote in the accompanying card.

   It sounds self-serving to quote a note in which some says you're great. But, I overcame that worry when I realized this gift is about Martha's heart, not mine. 

   My sister is one of the most giving people I know. Those who read this column regularly know that she worked at the front desk of The Toledo Hospital for more than thirty years. Before that, she took care of four-year-old children in different nursery schools. Today, she still volunteers to help autistic children through the charity Agility Angels.

   Once anyone meets Martha they remember her because of the light she brings into their hearts. I recall the day she was born and she's been brightening my life ever since (except when she beat me at games of "Go Fish.")

   How many of you remember your nursery school teacher? To this day, students of Martha's from thirty and even forty years ago approach her with thanks for brightening their childhood.

   Over more than three decades she helped thousands at the front desk of Toledo's largest hospital so well that she was named Employee of the Year. If patients and visitors could have voted she would have been named Receptionist of the Century. 

   Martha has become one of the city's best known citizens. You can't accompany her around town without people recognizing her and remembering her kindness. The recall her compassion when they needed it most.  

   Martha was not a nursery school teacher. She was a loving mother to her four-year old students. 

   Martha was not a receptionist. She was a caregiver (and still is for our century-old mother.)

   The heart in the photo is made of glass. Martha's heart is made of gold.

-Erie Chapman