Gift from the Sea

Lindbergh describes a “perfect double-sunrise shell” (71) that a stranger gave to her on the beach. Both sides of the shell are identical, like the wings of a butterfly, and they are connected by a golden-looking hinge. She describes it as perfect, whole, and untarnished. Further, the shell was given to her by someone who expected nothing in return. As she says, this gift was given “in the immediacy and purity of the present” (72), an act of human generosity without any connection to worldly social rites or ties.

The double-sunrise shell and the description of how Lindbergh acquired it serve as a metaphor for what she calls “the pure relationship” (72). This a relationship, whether to a lover, a friend, or one’s child, in its initial stages. In this phase, the relationship is unencumbered by the practicalities of life, societal obligations, and expectations. Instead, it is self-enclosed and pure. As in the case of two people over dinner who are absorbed in each other’s conversation, in this stage, the relationship is indifferent to others and to anything beyond the present encounter. Past obligations or future responsibilities do not intrude.