The Best Gift I Ever Gave

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I love buying gifts for people that I know they will really appreciate. That is one reason I hate waiting until the last minute to shop because I feel I’m tempted to buy something that will “work” at a price that might be more than my budget but I just need to find something, anything.

Thinking back to the best gift that I ever gave, I have one that immediately comes to mind.  Two years ago I received a free (as in sort of free because you pay inflated s/h) offer for a photo book.  I decided to make the book for my mom using photos from the entire year of my family. I thought it was going to be fun and simple project but instead it was quite timing consuming to plan pictures and layouts. I also tried to come up with funny captions with each page which added to my work. And because I had waited until the day before it expired to work on the book, I had a nasty deadline looming at me as I tried to frantically finish.

Was it worth it? ABSOLUTELY! I have never given my mother anything that brought her as much joy as that gift. It didn’t matter what else I got her that year because all she gushed about was the photo book. I caught her looking at it over and over again. And that made my time and frustrations oh so worth it.

I have found the best gifts are ones in which time or thought shows. Whether you make something handmade or remember something they told you they loved months before, the best gifts are those elicit an emotional response. That doesn’t necessarily mean screaming up and down hysterically because you spent a lot of money. It means that you’ve touched them, that you’ve shown that you care.  That they get all warm and fuzzy after they open it. Those are the gifts worth giving. And while I like to give to families in need at the holidays and I don’t know how a toy I’ve donated may have ultimately affected a child and their family, I like to think those little gifts (gestures really) made a difference. That I gifted them with some of those warm fuzzies too!