This is a rather difficult one for me. I pride myself on giving gifts with much thought that will hopefully mean something to the other person. I only give gift cards as a last resort. I like to believe every one of my gifts is precious to the other person. I have made homemade gifts that I think are pretty special. I can think of many gifts that were intangibles, and I can also think of donations to charities I made that were pretty special.
But tonight, I was reminded of something I hadn’t considered in years. I may not have every detail right, but I believe the story’s gist will come across well.
During the time my parents were divorced, we lived in Long Beach, Washington. I don’t remember much about this particular family we knew, but I remember they lived in a hotel. The mother was divorced and had two young kids if I remember right. They were going to have no Christmas whatsoever. No tree, no decorations, and no presents.
My mom believed that God was asking her to help this family out. We had an extra tree (or we bought one, but it seemed like an old one). We had decorations, and we bought presents for the kids. I’m sure my mom even bought gifts for the mother.
To this day, I can remember pulling up in front of that little motel room. We had visited the mother and kids there before. I think I went to school with the kids, but I don’t remember if they were in my class or if I was friends with the girl. I think it was a boy and a girl. I know we brought them food as well.
What I remember is seeing the kids’ faces light up with the Christmas tree and the gifts. I don’t precisely recall what happened after this moment, but I remember the good feeling I had as we dropped those things off, knowing these kids would have a Christmas after all.
While I have gifted many things in my life that have been special and amazing, this is the first time I recall giving something away at Christmastime to a deserving family. I think I was around five years old at the time, and I am grateful that my mother started my giving at a very young age!
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6 Comments
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Aww… your story reminds me of the Hallmark movie with Kristy Swanson, A Christmas Wish.
My friend Dawn had a milestone birthday and I was invited to the party. We had once reminisced about growing up and playing with Dawn dolls, in addition to our Barbies. I gave her a reproduction Dawn doll. She told me it was the best gift she had received, and it had meant even more coming from me, because it was a gift from the heart.
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It’s funny Denise–I had the exact same thought about that movie.
I love what you shared. That is so cool!!
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I gave some quirky gifts to my Mum over the years, including pieces of meteorite. I loved being able to write on the box ‘They came from outer space!’ She had a very keen interest in astronomy and we often set up the telescope in the back garden to observe the stars and planets.
The gift that was both whimsical, not to mention untouchable, was having a star named for her. She was tickled by the idea and loved the registration certificate and star map showing the exact location of Greta May Radmall in the constellation of the Great Bear.
Mum died earlier this year, and I like to think of her shining away, enjoying her crazy gift as the Great Mama Bear she was in life.-
I love this. I am so sorry for your loss, but what a wonderful memory for you Kathryn!
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Mmmm this is hard as l always put a lot of thought into my gifts. I think the one that gave me the most joy was photos of the teenagers l put into special frames a couple of years ago.. l take real pride and care into what l give to people so this was definitely a hard one.
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This is so wonderful. Thank you for sharing, Lisa.
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