The Best Christmas Gift I Ever Gave
TV ClubHouse: Archives: The Best Christmas Gift I Ever Gave
Marysafan | Tuesday, December 10, 2002 - 08:55 am     I know we have a lot of Christmas stories to tell...so I thought we could tell the stories of the best gifts we ever gave. Mine was a cast iron Boston Terrier door stop that I gave my Dad a few years ago. He had been abandoned by his mother and was raised by his French speaking paternal grandmother and her three bachelor sons. When we would go to visit them in their later years, there was nothing in the house that rambuncitous youngsters could play with. This dog was the closest thing to a "toy". It was a heavy little sucker and when it fell over on your little toes...you knew it! My Dad told us that it had been in the house for as long as he could remember. After the uncles had passed on, the house was given to my Father, and when my parents moved in...there was no sign of the little dog who sat in the corner guarding the front door all those years. One day in the late 1980's, I was at an auction in Lincoln Nebraska with my hubby. The auction didn't have much to offer so I was looking through the classifieds to see if there was another auction in the area. I spotted one in Exira, Iowa (3 hours away)...and in the listing was a cast iron "bull dog". I told my hubby that I wanted to go to that auction. He protested. "It's THREE hours from here, but the time we get there they will have already started." I told him I had this feeling about the "bull dog". He still protested..."I thought you said it was a Boston Terrier." He gave in ...and off we went. We arrived to find the place packed. There were tons of stuff all around the community building and people filled up the center. Hubby said...Okay you go one way...I'll go the other and we will meet up front. I worked my way around the perimeter of the building...and finally I was up at the front. I noticed my hubby was almost next to me and was hoping that he had better luck than I had. "Did you see it?", he asked. I shook my head "no". Feeling the disappointment I lowered my head and there on the table in front of me was the Cast Iron "bulldog" which was an exact replica of the one I wanted to replace. I grabbed my hubby's arm. I was speechless. "Okay, he said. Now, you have to set a limit as to how much you will spend." "There is no limit", I said. "It is going home with me." "Okay, how much do you have with you?" he asked. "I have $200.00 in my wallett." "Okay, that's your limit." It took the better part of the day to go through all the items. It was getting late and many of the people had left. Odds were looking better. Finally the little dog was up for bid. Hubby decided he had better handle the bidding...no telling what I would do. I put my face in my hands...and concentrated on breathing while saying a prayer. The situation was VERY tense. Suddenly, I heard "SOLD!" and looked up to see that hubby had won the bid for $80.00. The man put the dog in my arms and I immediately burst into tears. This would be the perfect gift for my Dad. I took the dog to one of those special mailing places so that I could ship it with confidence. I told my sister of my find, she was the only one who knew. She knew this would be a special moment...so she asked my parents not to open their gifts until the family was present. When it was time to open the dog...she called me on the phone so I could be there too. My mother passed the box to my Dad...and when he opened it, they told me tears streamed down his face. ...and the little black dog still sits in the corner guarding the front door. |
Heyltslori | Tuesday, December 10, 2002 - 09:57 am     Geez Mary...you have me crying like a baby now!! That is a beautiful story... |
Babyruth | Tuesday, December 10, 2002 - 10:06 am     I love this! You're a wonderful person and have a gift for sharing stories. Thank you! |
Wargod | Tuesday, December 10, 2002 - 10:09 am     <wargod brings in a case of kleenex into the best gift thread.> |
Wargod | Tuesday, December 10, 2002 - 10:12 am     Dang, I put the best gift I ever saw given in the fact thread yesterday. I'll have to give some serious thought to the best gift I've ever given. |
Whit4you | Tuesday, December 10, 2002 - 10:21 am     Best gift - gift to myself - my own freedom from insanity circa Dec 25th 2002....? Workin on it today... |
Heyltslori | Tuesday, December 10, 2002 - 11:16 am     A couple of years ago for Christmas my brothers and sisters and I gave my mom and dad each a memory box. I had heard about the idea in a magazine and thought it would really be special. What you do is take little slips of paper and put a memory you have involving the person on it... and just do a whole bunch of them...as many as you can think of. The way we did it since there are five of us (2 brothers, 2 sisters and me) is that we each used a different color of paper. We just put them all mixed up into pretty wooden boxes...one for mom and one for dad.. and stuck big bows on top. Needless to say it made both of my parents cry...and laugh as they read through the memories and we all had a really special and wonderful time telling old stories and reminiscing. It was probably the least expensive gift they've ever received...but without a doubt the most cherished. |
Marysafan | Tuesday, December 10, 2002 - 11:20 am     Omigosh! Lori! That is a wonderful idea! Did you fold the slips of paper? or just leave them flat? |
Heyltslori | Tuesday, December 10, 2002 - 11:25 am     We folded them... it made a nice big pile of colorful memories! You could leave them flat...I guess it would depend on what kind of container you want to put them in. I had a friend do it..and he used a mason jar...with a ribbon around it for his mom. |
Kady | Tuesday, December 10, 2002 - 11:25 am     Wow Lori, cool gift. Some of the best things in life are free.  |
Wargod | Tuesday, December 10, 2002 - 11:29 am     That is a great idea, Lori! |
Meme9 | Tuesday, December 10, 2002 - 01:28 pm     Great gifts!!! My best gift given was when my daughter was about 5yrs old. I made a very large poster with cut out of Mickey and all the Disney gang. On the poster, I(Santa)also wrote that she recieved the gift of a week at Disney World, and that she could bring her whole family...if she could talk her parents into driving. (Of course we had this all planned ahead) She was absolutely thrilled. The whole vacation she spoke of "her" gift and that we were just there because of Santa. She still has the poster and she is almost 20 now! And when anyone ask her what her favorite gift was...yep, that was it. Ok, an other great gift...this one was for my son when he was about 9 or 10. He was wanting another game system, (nintento 64 I think) anyway Santa didn't want to get him one, so instead Santa gave him gloves..yep you read that right, he was not very happy at the moment. I then asked him if he was going to try them on, finally he tried on one of the gloves. He was so thrill when he pull out a Hundred Dollar Bill. He ran around the house so excited. After the excitment calmed, I asked aren't you going to try the other one on? Oh, the look on that little boys face as he picked up the other glove. He really was wishing that it held the same thing, but he knew that was to good to wish for. The laughter that came out of him was delightful when the other hundred came out. That was his best remembered gift. This way he had to really think hard about spending the money on that new game system he wanted...but in the end he did buy it, but he had to really think about it. (It turned out to be a very good lesson.) They both like to say they still believe in Santa because he gives the best gifts. Gifts from Mom and Dad, were never as good. hehe |
Djgirl5235 | Wednesday, December 11, 2002 - 05:50 am     These stories have me sitting at my desk with fighting back tears - what great memories. We're actually making our best Christmas gift ever given this Christmas. Let me explain... My brother has been in school for the past few years, and prior to that was just at odd jobs. He's never had much money around Christmas, and always felt bad that he couldn't give better gifts. I was in the same predicament sometimes, and at other times, I had more than enough for everyone. Anyway... my mom met my step-dad 11 years ago, and they've been married for 9. My brother and I were rather leary of another man entering our lives when our SD came along, but we had nothing to worry about. We have absolutely, THE BEST SD in the world. I've never met a more accepting, trusting, respectful man in my life. I forgot to add that when he came into our lives, he was 30, and I was 16, and my brother 14... Kind of a handful! He has never had his own kids, and basically adopted us... My own father wouldn't co-sign a loan so that I could get my own car when I finally had a full time job, but my SD would, and has a couple of times. He tells it like it is, and totally treats my brother and I like his own kids - doesn't put up with any crap from us, and cares very deeply for the two of us. Getting back to this year, my brother has been in basic training, and actually has money this year, as do I. Given that we have been extraordinarily blessed with this wonderful man in our life, we decided to make this an extra special Christmas for him - kind of a thanks for everything, especially since we're not his kids, we're just his wife's kids. He is one of the biggest Toronto Maple Leaf's fans, so we decided to get him an authentic game jersey for his gift this year. It's over $300.00 CDN for this gift, but he's so worth it, and I CANNOT wait to see his face when he opens it... I will more than likely have tears in my eyes! He's a very special man to both of us, and is loved by all who know him, so to get this gift for him, is one of my best gifts to myself this Christmas. |
Marysafan | Wednesday, December 11, 2002 - 06:42 am     Wow! DJgirl ....I would just like to say...you and your brother....ROCK! This will totally blow him away. Do you get to choose the player's name? If so, who? |
Mack | Wednesday, December 11, 2002 - 07:31 am     A few years ago my wife and I were trying to figure out how we could help out the community or a family at Christmas. It struck me to call the local government social services office and ask if there was a family in need that we might help. They were very surprised that an individual would call but were very supportive and put me in contact with a social worker. She had a single mother with a family of three that was facing a very bleak Christmas. The family's "wish list" was very reasonable. Things like a pair of gloves, a toy truck, a scarf and some basic food items for a decent Christmas dinner. My wife and I started putting this together and some of our co-workers heard what we were doing and immediately wanted to help. To make a long story short, when we got all the gifts and food together it took a van and three additional cars to deliver "Christmas" to this family including a fully decorated tree. We may have gone a little overboard that first Christmas but every Christmas since our group of "Silent Santas" has come together to help out a family in need. This is has been our best Christmas gift. |
Sia | Wednesday, December 11, 2002 - 08:55 am     When my nephew was about six years old or so I took him Christmas shopping with me and we looked at every toy in the K-mart toy-aisles, honestly! He was a collector of small action figures, and he spotted a Terminator robot that he didn't have, and he pleaded for me to buy the toy. I pretended to be unsure of making the purchase and directed him to look for other toys in the next aisle while I lifted my purse and hid the toy underneath. When Dustin returned from the next aisle, he asked where the toy was and I said I'd put it back on the display. Unable to find the figure, Dustin asked what had become of it. I told him that another boy had come along and had taken the toy with him. My nephew asked desperately, "What did he look like? Could I take him?" (meaning, "Am I big enough to overpower that kid and wrest the toy from his chubby fingers?" Well, he pouted and moped through the store until we checked out, at which time I leaned across the counter and whispered to the cashier that I wanted her to hide an item from my nephew's view, which she happily did. (Years later, I still use this ploy when shopping with my own children.) On Christmas Day, my gift to Dustin was an ENORMOUS box beautifully wrapped and topped with a bow. He unwrapped the big box to find inside....another box!! He then unwrapped the second box to find about six boxes all together in graduated sizes, until he reached the last one, which was a Ritz crackers box. He looked at me and said, "This had better not be empty!" When my sweet little nephew opened the final box he found that much-coveted Terminator action figure and he was simply ecstatic!! My whole family laughed and laughed as Dustin opened his gift. He never worked so hard for so little reward. My reward, however, was tremendous! He's never forgotten that Christmas present. |
Marysafan | Wednesday, December 11, 2002 - 09:04 am     Oh Sia! What a delightful story! You gave him more than a toy...you gave him a memory! My mother-in-law used to say that all the time..."Let's make a memory." We have so many now to cherish. They are the best legacy. |
Nancy | Wednesday, December 11, 2002 - 09:27 am     I think probably the best gift i gave was one to my father--he was about 65 at that time and very sick in the hospital over christmas.. He had always wanted a toy train set(ho model) as a child but had never gotten one--SO that year not even knowing if he'd ever make it out of the hospital i decied to get him that train set for christmas--on christmas day when we went to the hospital to open presents with him he was very weak but opened all his gifts and when he got to mine he got sooo happy it was the best gift i could have given him.. he made it home from the hospital and lived a good 10 years more and had a ball with that train set--he built a whole entire systm down in our basement with a village and everything |
Djgirl5235 | Wednesday, December 11, 2002 - 11:05 am     Hey there Mary! To answer your question - it's an additional $100 to get a player's name and number on the back, and rather than guess, and not be sure, we thought we would give him a plain jersey and if he wanted to put someone on the back of it, then he could, otherwise, he could leave it plain and not get ticked off if they trade the player that he'd chosen, or we had chosen for him. It's the most expensive gift I've ever given at Christmas to date, and I'm SOOOOO excited to see his face! He's absolutely the best "father" I could have asked for! He totally deserves this! |
Ketchuplover | Wednesday, December 11, 2002 - 03:50 pm     I've never given a special gift |
Teatime | Wednesday, December 11, 2002 - 07:58 pm     KL, you ARE a gift! Don't ever change. You are a perfect fit and we'd never dream of exchanging you. I treasure your humor and kind ways. |
Ketchuplover | Wednesday, December 11, 2002 - 08:36 pm     BITE ME <wink> |
Sia | Wednesday, December 11, 2002 - 11:36 pm     Ketchuplover, Teatime just might want to take you up on your offer, but your chances of that happening will improve if you've put on some ketchup first!!  |
Mygetaway | Thursday, December 12, 2002 - 04:03 pm     I Love these stories... I guess if we were to go by the gift that made me feel the best after I had given it, it would be a stove to my Grandmother. She always took care of everyone else first. At 80 years old she had to begin taking care of my Mom (they lived together) after my Mom had a bad stroke at age 53. Before that she had helped look after my son in between babysitters and day care. She had this old stove that was on it's very last leg, but she wouldn't spend the money to replace it. She burnt everything she cooked, and she was so short she had a hard time reaching the back burners. Of course those were the only ones left working. My Mom couldn't really help her buy one either because she was on a limited budget from having to retire early. I was a single Mom, also on a very tight budget, but I knew I was going to get a pretty good income tax return that year. So instead of getting my son a bunch of toys he really didn't need, or just end up paying down some bills, I bought her a stove. I was so proud that I could give something back after all she had given to me. She was so surprised she was actually speechless. She tried to refuse it, but I wouldn't let her. I told her they wouldn't let me return it so she was stuck with it! |
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