when chrissie and i were in high school, we shopped the sales at the gap with a passion.
and one day we found the cutest sweater on sale.
and we both wanted it sooo bad. but there was only one.
so after a lot of discussion, she got to keep it.
and then on christmas, i unwrapped it. and i was so happy.
it was such a thoughtful thing to do. i love that girl!
I’m just reading this post now but I wanted to share anyway. My best gift ever: my daughter! We found out we were (FINALLY!) expecting on our 2 year wedding anniversary. Seriously, best anniversary gift ever. He’ll never top that one!
She’s now 17 months old and I could not be more proud to be her mama. I thank God for her everyday and just pray that I can show her how much I love and adore her every moment of everyday!
The best gift I ever received…my son, after 4 long years of waiting (and trying to conceive), God graced us with his presence. I know now why I had to wait so long – just for him.
Hand’s down… My little sister – Wicked Pixie.
I think the year we received a photo album from my husband’s Dad (1976). It was his life in pictures and included our dating, marriage and the birth of our two girls. A very special gift for our family to enjoy forever.
My Barbie Dream House- circa 1986. Oh how i loved that thing. It had 3 stories, a winding staircase, furniture, and best of all- Santa had it all set up with Barbies in every room. Just thinking about it makes me want to drive to my parents house and get it out of the attic! Maybe my girls (who are still young babes) will play with it someday…
Last year, my boys (6 and 8 at the time) surprised me at Christmas with bookmarks that they had made. “Gifts” is definitely one of my top love languages, and I’ll be the first to admit that it’s a bit hard being a single mom on Christmas morning when there’s nothing under the tree for me. My thoughtful mom, however, helped the boys so that they would have something to give me come Christmas morning. My oldest cross-stitched a simple “I Love You, Mom” in red with a big green heart. My youngest made a cross bookmark out of plastic canvas. I cried. Those bookmarks will be my treasures forever. Definitely better than any diamonds, pearls, perfume, or clothes!
Also, this question always brings to mind my piano. My in-laws were visiting us one fall, and I arrived home from a long day at work to find a beautiful 1922 upright piano sitting in my living room, just because. More happy tears! How I have loved having that piano! It’s my place of healing to run to when I’m tired, weary, sad, or just need to sing. God has given me some beautiful songs as I’ve sat with Him in front of those keys. Such a thoughtful gift. Such an unexpected gift. Such a perfect fit! Even better, the brand name is “Lakeside” which just happens to be the name of my favorite place in the world, where I’ve vacationed since I was four. : )
I love the heart necklace and can’t wait to get mine. When I read how special it was because of your son’s heart surgery I immediately knew it was the one that I wanted because my son has had surgeries and will have another one probably about the same age as your son just had his. I’m glad to see he is doing well.
My greatest earthly gift that comes to mind is the pair of gloves my Mum gave me last year. I have a malformed hand and so am unable to wear gloves (apart from mittens, but then can’t do anything in them!) and my hands get really cold and dry. My Mum bought a pair of gloves and spent ages unpicking and re-making one of the gloves to fit me. Also, when I turned 18, over 25 years ago, my younger brother saved all his pocket money for over 6 months and bought me a special ring – I still have it now!
My greatest gift(s) ever was when my two adopted children (from China and Guatemala) were finally placed in my arms. Truly amazing! Being their mom is the most fulfilling thing I have ever done in my life.
Last year my grandparents gave me a photo album of only me from my childhood. As one of four kids, finding photos of myself as a child, much less getting to keep them (my mom CLUTCHES onto them), has been sort of a rare occurance. It was very touching to know that they saved every photo my mom sent from across the country and lovingly put them away in their own special place. It made me cry because I have my own two little girls now and have never been able to show them their mama as a little girl. Very, very special and priceless, indeed.
What a sweet sister you have. My best gifts- my SLR camera and my Wonder Woman underoos for adults that my dad got me a few years ago (I had a pair when I was 4 that I ADORED). I love them.
The birth of my children.
My husband gave me a picture of us holding our newborn baby in the hospital. It was our first picture together as a family. It sits on our nightstand and everytime I look at it, it makes me smile.
I know there is a better, more eloquent, beautiful, meaningful answer to this question in my past somewhere…but as a mom of two toddlers, all I can answer is:
my keurig!! My wonderful, amazing coffee-wonder!! Ha!
what a sweet story! I love it! I hope she is still your friend, sounds like a keeper! 😉
Besides Jesus and my son… My favorite material gift was the entire 10 seasons and the finale of FRIENDS on DVD from my husband!! Love that show still!
I graduated half way through my senior year of high school and was set to attend college in another town but I was $100 short on my dorm deposit and couldn’t seem to find a bunch of baby sitting jobs to make the money. I only had until January 1st to pay the deposit, and I was getting pretty frantic. On Christmas Eve I opened a cosmetic bag that was a gift from all my older siblings. In each of the little travel bottles was a $20 bill – $100 in total. I sobbed with relief and joy. I have never forgotten that moment.
i’ve said it before, but i’ll say it again, you and your sister have the sweetest relationship! i have great expectations that my own teenage daughters will lavish such love on each other.
greatest gift… Jesus. really. i was brokenhearted before him. he has lavished love, rescued, and redeemed me. i have every gift i need or want, in him.
Definitely the birth of Jesus!
These are great stories – I have a couple to share as well.
I’m a single parent and I don’t get gifts very often. So when someone gives me something it’s pretty special. My son is into legos (big time) and he often makes me things but then I have to give them back so the parts can go back into his lego pile. Last year for mother’s day made me a heart out of legos and I got to keep it!
I turned 40 this year and my birthday was pretty low key – my son was recovering from surgery and we weren’t going to do much. But my sister insisted on cooking a meal of my choice and bringing it over (she’s a wonderful cook!) And she gave me my birthday gifts – she had picked out a gift for several things I treasure (a book for relaxing, a ring with my birthstone, a purse for my purse collection, a purse organizer because I like to stay organized, a cook book for my love of cooking, etc.) It was SO thoughtful! She’s very good to me!
I got teary when I read that. What a sweet sister!
what a sweet story!
my most memorable present was a hideous pink barbie dream house when i was three. i still remember being so surprised and it being taller than me.
That is the sweetest thing ever! Don’t you just love sisters?
so sweet! love it….when my big boys were little boys their daddy would take them christmas shopping each year for me….they loved the IDEA of shopping, but the REALITY was pretty boring for 2 little BOYS, so they would pretty much buy the first thing they saw on the large table set up as you walked in the door….one year i got VERY large, very fuzzy animal print slippers, another, i got VERY large (pencil eraser size) CZ earrings….both are my faves along with the three wooden spoons my husband gave me with “low, med and high” written on them when i said i needed a new kitchen aid mixer (he later brought out the real thing!)…funny, i liked the spoons better! great memories!
The best gift I have been given, is the gift of salvation!
The best gift I ever got was a puppy! My now husband gave her to me & it was such a sweet surprise. I had seen & fallen in love with her brother (he was already someone’s pet) but my husband found out that his mother was due to deliver puppies & he arranged to get one. She is 2 years old now & the sweetest thing ever. I now have twin babies that are 8 months old & they are in love with the dog. When she walks in the room, they crack up laughing. 🙂
My sweet baby cousins sent me a Christmas box full of decorations for my tree. In the bottom of the box were 2 homemade paper boxes to save for a special day when I needed a little something sweet. One had a pair of earrings that they used their pocket money to buy. The other had a seashell necklace that they made on their trip to Mexico. Those are the best gifts I’ve ever received because so much love went into them.
A poem written by son aged 8. It was about what he loved about me, my curly hair, the lunches I packed for him., my funny little ways. He said I was perfect. It bought me to tears. I must pull that poem out again – he is 16 now and I need reminding of how sweet he can be!
The year my son was born my brother’s girlfriend wrote a poem and framed it for him. I had to have someone else read it becuase I was so overwhelmed – it was beautiful.
i’m really not a gifts person, so a gift has to be pretty special to wow me. it’s not that i’m hard to buy for, but stuff just doesn’t hold a lot of meaning, unless the person giving it has really tapped into what i need or has figured out something i want but haven’t expressly verbalized.
my second Christmas as a married woman i received the first best gift i’d ever received. we were living in an old house that didn’t have a dishwasher, and my husband found a portable one that was on wheels and that hooked up to the kitchen faucet with a hose.
he had it over at his parents’ house and told me i had to go out to the garage to get my gift. i had no idea what he could’ve come up with, but there is a photo of me jumping up and down with glee when i saw it!
the second best gift i ever received grew in specialness to me over the years. when we’d been married about 4 years, the first Gulf War was on, and gas prices were sky high (for then–not as compared to now!). we decided we could only afford to go home if we chose to limit our spending on gifts for each other to $10. somehow my husband found a pair of slippers for that price. they were not my favorite color–a rosey pink–but they were warm and had leather soles.
i still have them, now 16 years later, and they remind me that a small gift can really have great meaning. they have warmed my feet for so many years, and every time i wear them they remind me of my dear husband.
sorry to go on and on, but this was a great question! i am looking forward to reading others’ posts.
great stories here!(tear jerkers…snif)
Some years ago I opened my birthdaypresents and was so surprised by the painting of my saxophone, made by my boyfriend who paints for a hobby. I hadn’t had a clue at all. He had worked all evening into the night to finish it in time…..yes, unexpected gifts are the best!
Tina (the netherlands)
My favorite was an exact replica of my blanket I had as a child hand stitched by grandma, the one who made the original. I still have it and it’s wearing out slowly, but it reminds me of her.
gorgeous story.
once my long-distance boyfriend (now, husband) was waiting for me in his hometown on the east-coast while I took a 6 day (yikes!) bus trip from my hometown on the WEST-coast. when I got there I hadn’t showered, brushed my teeth or slept in far too long and he just hugged me, kissed me & brought out this beautiful necklace that had a heart intertwined in a circle.
that was a beautiful way for him to show me he loved me no matter what!
I’m sure I answered this same question last year, but I will never forget Christmas of 1970. My parents had just divorced, my mom was back working full time to support three of us aged 10, 9, and 6. For the first time ever, we put stockings out, went to bed without opening gifts, and awoke to brand new bicycles, stockings stuffed with little toys and candy, and many other gifts we had been dreaming of. My mother worked extra hard to make a Christmas for us to remember. Sounds sad, but it’s really a very warm and fuzzy memory for me!
When I was in the hospital after the birth of my second daughter I received many sweet and wonderful gifts. But the one I loved most was a music box from my dad that played “Daddy’s Little Girl.” Sweet memories…
Blessings!
December 26, 2005 the most wonderful man in the world came into my life, holding my hands at a little local eatery… said he wanted me to be in his life! We married October 13th of 2006… He is the best gift EVER!
That was so sweet!!! Thank you for sharing that story. 🙂
We moved to Fl from Pittsburgh just after my 11th birthday, I really missed my friends, the change of seasons..everything. Two summers later the opportunity came up for my sister and I (Martha almost exactly one year younger than me) to go visit my best friend and her family. I desperately wanted to go, my parents bought the tickets for Martha and I…with the agreement that it would be our birthday & Christmas present that year. We agreed, we went, and had a wonderful time. That December when our birthdays rolled around I did not expect anything,,,but I received a calendar…a big purple /pink butterfly… (I know it sounds awful…but it wasn’t haha). It was the type of calendar you could use year after year… because you changed the date and the month it was not for any specific year. My Mother said “Everybody should have something to open on their birthday” That gift meant so much to me…the trip alone…but somehow that calendar was special too. I used it all through college….and I think eventually it kind of self destructed…but I always remebered that gift. I was so thankful that my parents were able to make that trip happen for me!
Jesus.
The greastest gift I enjoy everyday,is the gift of life and also life eternal in Jesus Christ.
Everyday, no matter the trial, I have a beautiful gift that gives more.
my favorite gift is always one that i give….never one that i receive. just this past weekend, 32 of us gave the gift of photography to some needy families.
by far this was the best gift i’ve ever given 🙂
that just made me cry!!
the best gifts are the unexpected ones. the imac my mom got me last year in support of my dream to be a writer ranks right up there. not because of the thing but because of the sentiment behind it.
I will always remember receiving a dozen pink roses on my 13th birthday from……my dad! It is engraved in my memory forever. He put them in a vase of water and left them in my room for me to find. So out of character, yet so wonderful!
What a beautiful story of two amazing sisters!
The Easter after my parents got divorced, I was really sad and bummed out because every year at Easter my dad would hide eggs all over our yard (3 acres!) and after breakfast my sis, brother and I would race around in our PJs like idiots, knocking each other down in our quest for the most eggs. One year my brother even drug me through dog doodoo. Yes, we were of teenage/young adult ages! LOL! Anyway, that year I was not looking forward to Easter, because it meant we wouldn’t get to do the egg hunt, and I had never realized how much fun it was and how much I looked forward to it until then. My husband surprised me on Easter morning with a scavenger hunt made just for me with a chocolate bunny at the end. It wasn’t the same, but it sure did make me happy. And somehow I made it through not only Easter, but every holiday since. The best gift ever…and it wasn’t even Christmas!
My grandson, Corgan. He was born on Christmas Day six years ago.