Best Gift?

[SeaCat]

It's that time of season again, and having read some of the posts regarding gifts I have a question. Dig back in your minds and think about it. What is/was the best gift you have received for Christmas or your Birthday? Hell I'll even open this up to wedding gifts. (S.O.'s don't count.)

For me it would have to be one of two things. The first was a Christmas Present from my then girlfriend, (now my wife,) when I had to go overseas. It was a wallet sized picture of her, in the nude, (a first for her,) which she had made then laminated. I still carry it.
The second was just given to me a couple of days early. It is an Electric Train, (engine and coal car,) with sections of track and controller that my father just finished completely refurbishing. That doesn't sound like much, but it is the train my father had when he was a child. (He found it several years ago when he cleaned out my grandfathers house when he died.)

Cat

 

[cloudy]

When I was around 11, I started showing my horse. She had mega-potential, and I had been riding since I was around 5, so we did halfway well, but didn't have the fancy rig to be able to show competitively, not really. There were a lot of kids in my family, and I knew all that silver, etc., for my saddle, the silver studded bridle, silver plated bit, etc., were way out of reach, not to mention the clothes, hat and boots I needed. I resigned myself to going another year without them, and started doing odd jobs for neighbors to add in with my babysitting money, saving it painful nickel by painful nickel.

I was too old for Santa Claus, but apparently Santa Claus didn't think so. When I got up Christmas morning, under the tree was a complete show outfit - shirt, pants, boots, hat, earrings - silver to put on my saddle, a silver-studded headstall and reins,a silver-plated bit, and a show saddle pad to complete it.

I don't know where the money came from, but I cried.

P.S. Two years later we rode to the high-point championship for the state.

 

[BlackShanglan]

One was not an object, but an experience. I was young - perhaps thirteen - and my family took me with my aunt (whom I quite love) to see Les Miserables. I love live theatre / musical and still remember that birthday very fondly.

It's funny how little one remembers any toys and similar gifts from childhood. I recall a stuffed frog that I at first though strange and ugly but later loved. Hardly anything else.

One year I received a ring from my grandfather. It was hard Christmas. He'd died only a month or two before. But it was good to have something from him, something I had seen on his hand nearly every time I saw him. It reminded me of the last visit; how he suddenly held to me and cried when I had to leave to go back to England. I'd never seen him cry before. I thought I would come back when I had graduated in a year, and have one more wonderful Christmas with all of the family. I did. He wasn't there.

I miss him.

Shanglan

 

[Guest]

 

[Guest]

It truly is 'the thought that counts'. Last year for my birthday my older son gave me a box of good English tea, not an unusual gift though he knows I love tea. Then he told me that he'd wanted to get me a really good bottle of Champagne cos he knows how much I love fine champers. He had his eye on a bottle that cost $100+ and came in a fancy box, but eventually had to admit he could not afford it. I understood how much he had wanted to give it to me and was glad he had not spent his very hard-earned money on it, but for all intents and purposes I felt as if he had given me that special gift. I always think of this now when I have a glass of really fine Champagne.

Perdita

 

[Bandit1]

The gift that I'll remember the longest was bestowed upon me for my 17th birthday by my girlfriend.
We had been dating for almost a year and she decided that for my birthday, she wanted to give me her virginity,
That was too many years ago for me to even want to count, but I still remember every detail of that night with crystal clarity,
And after all these years, even though she has been married to another for nearly 2 decades, we are still close friends.

 

[Colleen Thomas]

Best gift? When I was very young, my grandfather, a master carpenter built me a rocking horse. I still have him. it isn't so much the horse as it is being able to look at it anytime and see the love and crafstmanship that went into it. My grandfather is no longer with us, but all Ihave to do is look at ringo and he's with me again.

 

[doormouse]

I'm going to be a spoil sport and go off track.

For me, it was the gift of friendship. No material things could ever compare to what one very special lady did for me recently.

 

[EmeraldKitten]

My dad is a failure as a father, but luckily he was married a woman that is almost as awesome as my mom.
They never had an overabundance of money, so I knew not to expect much in a way of presents.
But, spending time with them was more than enough.

It was shortly after my birthday one year, and we were on our way back from my grandparents house.
We stopped at this flea market type of thing.

(My mom had this wash basin and pitcher, but it was blue. I wanted it. But it didn't match my room, lol, so I woudn't put it up here. We had the stand and everything, it just didn't match.)

Anyhow, we were at this flea market thing, and they had a ton of wash basin/pitcher sets!
And I spotted a purple one! I wanted it, needed it, would have been willing to die for it.
Alas, no money.

So we get to the car, and my stepmom said she'd be right back.
So the rest of us got to the car, sat and waited for what seemed like a day.
Finally, she appears around the corner. And what does she have in her arms?
A box. And I spy with my little eye, that pitcher sticking out of the top of it.
I about flew out of the Bronco. I cried, and fell all over myself thanking her.

That was, hmmm... 8 years ago, and that wash basin and pitcher are still in the corner.


I guess that gift was special because it was her that got it for me.
She had the thoughtfulness to go back and buy it, even though they were dirt poor, and she was 'just' my stepmom.

 

[doormouse]

I guess that gift was special because it was her that got it for me.
She had the thoughtfulness to go back and buy it, even though they were dirt poor, and she was 'just' my stepmom.

Wow that was beautiful.

I had an elderly customer buy me a bookcase/toybox for my daughter when she was born. He knew I couldn't afford it at the time. I still have it and will always remember what a wonderful, touching and caring gesture it was.

God bless his soul.

 

[BlackShanglan]

I guess that gift was special because it was her that got it for me.
She had the thoughtfulness to go back and buy it, even though they were dirt poor, and she was 'just' my stepmom.

Ah, thanks EmeraldKitten. It's good to have these little fragments to shore up against the at times overwhelming belief that all humans are base, wretched, selfish creatures (myself included). That's a lovely gesture, speaking of real decency and generosity of spirit.

 

[wildsweetone]

Probably the best Christmas gift I ever received was this verse:

Children by Gibran

It opened a whole new perspective for me and led me into some beautiful reading.

The nice part, the gift was given to me by a net friend who lives in California. It cost him a little time and an email, and it gave me everything.

 

[alyxen]

Probably have to go with my grandfathers Waltham watch. I have some memories of my grandfather, but not many. I can't remember when my dad passed it on to me, but I know I was young. Luckily I was old enough to realize I was too young, so took very good care of it.

 

[SnoopDog]

I once received a necklace with an irish luck-stone from a girl very special to me as a birthday gift.

Even though we don't talk anymore it still means a lot to me.

My best present as a child was probably my first bike. It was supercool and I spent a lot of time on and falling off it.

Snoopy

 

[Xelebes]

Christmas '99 - I got a calligraphy set for christmas. Coolest thing ever. Now my printing and handwriting is pretty!

Christmas '93 - My dad's company which he took over from his father-in-law was failing so he was strapped for cash. He bought a small bag of golf tees and drilled 31 holes into a block of wood and made a solitaire board game. I found it cool cuz I'm a mathematical type of guy and loved the combinations and variations you could have done with it. Then I lost all the golf tees...

Christmas '89 - My grandmother gave me this Smurf toy. Favourite ever as I was only 3 and a half years old.

 

[TheEarl]

I can't think of a best one, but one that sticks out in my head is from 2 years ago. I was on my gap year, most of my friends were at uni and I was unemployed. I spent a lot of my time practising my place kicking at rugby (For those who don't know from England, that's what Jonny Wilkinson does, for Americans, it's kinda like a field goal in Yank football, but in a proper sport). I lived very close to the sea and used to practise kicking over a beacon thing by a hill leading down to the waterfront.

Within the space of a week I lost 1 ball from slicing a punt (a kick from hand) into the sea at high tide, one got stuck in the top of the 24ft high beacon and the third and last took a freak bounce over the edge of the hill and into the sea. I had the kicking tee and the motivation to practise, but no rugby ball and no money to buy a new one.

A week before Christmas, my mum took me to one side and gave me one of my Christmas presents early because she didn't like me being miserable. I still have that Gilbert rugby ball now.

The Earl

 

[CharleyH]

Well, an Eskimo doll I received at 5, who two years later became my runaway companion - lol. Who needs food when you have a doll? Well, unless the food was cookies

Last year, an ex, and close friend searched high and low for every Bob Fosse DVD in existence. It took him two months to find all the titles. My all time favorite director, and so when I opened the wrapping, I had a well of emotion that I have never had upon opening a gift.

My Mother's last Christmas was a gift in itself, everything that happened that day, while particularly special cannot compare to the strength of will for her to participate in the festivities, if only for an hour.

 

[impressive]

The best gift I ever received was from my father.

I wanted a big family -- at least 4 kids -- but when my first suffered an anoxic brain injury at birth that resulted in severe disabilities, I thought I'd never be able to handle just one kid -- let alone several. He encouraged me not to let go of my dreams and said, "If anyone can do it, you can." I'll never forget those words.

I miss my daddy.

Material things are just that -- things. It is the love and thoughtfulness behind them that is most cherished.

 

[SensualCealy]

I was six and my dad and older brothers were spending alot of time in the basement that fall. One day I got nosy and went to check on them to find them 'building'. Of course I had to ask what it was, and stupid me I believed them, a bird house!

Christmas morning, I woke to find a two story barbie house, each room decorated to its finest. Furninture for every room and a huge box of clothes for Barbie and her friends.

My mom had spent hour upon hour with one of her girlfriends, making chairs out of comet cans, ottomen out of tuna tins, sofa's out of plastic kleenex boxes etc.

We had very little money that year, a few months earlier we got my little brother, that made 4 kids under 10. And the newest memeber to the family had many birth defects mainly with his heart. Come to find out at all the appointments mom took the fabric with her to make the dresses for my Barbies.

I no longer have the house nor the Barbies, but I do have a picture my daddy took right after Christmas with it set up in my bedroom. Something Ill have forever!

****
One other thing, when I turned 13 I got a cedar chest for Christmas, thats all I got with a few tiny things in my stocking. Mom was so worried Id be disappointed, I wasnt, and still use it to this day, housing all my baby things from my kids.
C

 

[Guest]

These stories are wonderful (wonder filled), I want more.

Perdita

 

[Guest]

The best gift I ever received was at Christmas, 1989.

My Grandad died just three days before Christmas that year, and as anyone can imagine, it was a very sad time. I was 17, and the it was the first death in my immediate family that I'd had to deal with.

He hadn't even been ill, so it was very sudden, and he was only 69. I loved him so much. Everytime I saw him, he used to make me laugh and tease me, just like Grandads do.

On Christmas morning we were all a little sombre as we opened our presents. I remember my Mum kept crying (he was her Dad), and my Dad was trying to console us and make the best of Christmas. After we'd opened all the presents, my Dad went upstairs and brought a little cardboard box down. Inside the box was a small present to each of us from My Grandad. My Dad had apparently found them all in his dining room, the day after his death. The wrapping paper, scissors and so on were all still on the table. Each present had a gift tag, written in my Grandad's shakey hand, with our names on.

My Dad handed out these presents, saying he thought it was the right thing to do, we agreed. We were all crying as we opened our gifts. My two brothers had a leather bookmark each, my Mum a really sparkly brooch, and my Dad a bottle opener. My gift from my Grandad was a heart locket, and I thought it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. It wasn't gold, or any kind of precious metal, just something very inexpenspensive, but it was, and still is, the best present I've ever had. It was upsetting at the time, because I wished I could thank him and give him a kiss, but I kissed the locket instead. I still have it now, and although it is very tarnished, I give it a kiss every Christmas morning.

I also show my girls the locket every Christmas and talk about my Grandad. They never met him, but I think they know him very well.

Oh bugger, how soppy is that? Bloody crying again now.

Lou

 

[Lisa Denton]

When I was around 11, I started showing my horse. She had mega-potential, and I had been riding since I was around 5, so we did halfway well, but didn't have the fancy rig to be able to show competitively, not really. There were a lot of kids in my family, and I knew all that silver, etc., for my saddle, the silver studded bridle, silver plated bit, etc., were way out of reach, not to mention the clothes, hat and boots I needed. I resigned myself to going another year without them, and started doing odd jobs for neighbors to add in with my babysitting money, saving it painful nickel by painful nickel.

I was too old for Santa Claus, but apparently Santa Claus didn't think so. When I got up Christmas morning, under the tree was a complete show outfit - shirt, pants, boots, hat, earrings - silver to put on my saddle, a silver-studded headstall and reins,a silver-plated bit, and a show saddle pad to complete it.

I don't know where the money came from, but I cried.

P.S. Two years later we rode to the high-point championship for the state.

Thanks for sharing that Cloudy, I got teary eyed.
Happy Thanksgiving All.
I love all these posts.

 

[Colleen Thomas]

The best gift I ever received was at Christmas, 1989.

My Grandad died just three days before Christmas that year, and as anyone can imagine, it was a very sad time. I was 17, and the it was the first death in my immediate family that I'd had to deal with.

He hadn't even been ill, so it was very sudden, and he was only 69. I loved him so much. Everytime I saw him, he used to make me laugh and tease me, just like Grandads do.

On Christmas morning we were all a little sombre as we opened our presents. I remember my Mum kept crying (he was her Dad), and my Dad was trying to console us and make the best of Christmas. After we'd opened all the presents, my Dad went upstairs and brought a little cardboard box down. Inside the box was a small present to each of us from My Grandad. My Dad had apparently found them all in his dining room, the day after his death. The wrapping paper, scissors and so on were all still on the table. Each present had a gift tag, written in my Grandad's shakey hand, with our names on.

My Dad handed out these presents, saying he thought it was the right thing to do, we agreed. We were all crying as we opened our gifts. My two brothers had a leather bookmark each, my Mum a really sparkly brooch, and my Dad a bottle opener. My gift from my Grandad was a heart locket, and I thought it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. It wasn't gold, or any kind of precious metal, just something very inexpenspensive, but it was, and still is, the best present I've ever had. It was upsetting at the time, because I wished I could thank him and give him a kiss, but I kissed the locket instead. I still have it now, and although it is very tarnished, I give it a kiss every Christmas morning.

I also show my girls the locket every Christmas and talk about my Grandad. They never met him, but I think they know him very well.

Oh bugger, how soppy is that? Bloody crying again now.

Lou

Beautiful story Lou. So indicative of what christmas really means behind the malls and stores.

*HUGS*

Thank you for sharing.

 

[oggbashan]

Only one of my grandparents survived to see me as a child.

My maternal grandfather was about 80 when I was three. For that Christmas he and his young (75) friend next door made presents for my brother, my sister and me. My brother had a yacht he could sail on the local pond. To me it seemed enormous. He told me many years later that the hull was three feet long.

My sister had a dolls' house that could be folded down into a wooden box for travelling. Everything fitted together without nuts, bolts, or screws. The corner pillars slotted into the base, the sides slotted into the grooves in the corner pillars, and the roof hinged at the ridge. It seemed very flimsy until the roof was on. Then it was rigid.

I was given a ride-on train. I sat on the coal bunker of a bright red tank engine and scooted along with my legs. There were three trucks behind, each fitted with wooden building blocks that would only go in just so.

His friend's grandchildren had equally magnificent toys. The two of them had spent many months constructing the toys from driftwood found on the beach because normal timber just wasn't available.

My grandfather died six months later.

My brother's yacht and my train were eventually passed on to my younger cousins when we outgrew them.

My sister's dolls' house was given to another cousin, her best friend, when my sister knew she was dying from polio.

None of those toys survive today. They wore out after generations of delighted children had played with them. My brother's yacht was the last to go. It sank in a quarry's very deep pond and is probably still in the mud on the bottom.

I think the two grandfathers enjoyed making the toys as much as the recipients enjoyed their presents.

Og

 

[CharleyH]

Bloody crying again now.

Lou

You and the rest of us! lol