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What’s Been the Best Gift You’ve Ever Given or Received?
By Laura Knoy on Thursday, December 24, 2009.
Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or the Solstice, this time of year has always been considered the season of giving. We trade presents, send checks to charities or do an extra good deed. Most of us can remember a gift we gave that made an impression on someone else. Many of us too may remember a present we received that we’ll never forget, some wrapped up in a bow, some a surprise or even a sacrifice. On Christmas Eve we ask you about the greatest gift you’ve ever had the chance to give or the one that you’ll always remember receiving.
Guests
- Harvey Cox, professor at Harvard’s Divinity School and author of the book The Future of Faith
- Rick Broussard – editor of New Hampshire Magazine for the past sixteen years; he serves as an advisor to the New Hampshire Humanities Council and is involved with various community and statewide organizations
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My niece Elyse and I share a love of crafts, but we live far apart from each other. Over the phone one day,I described to her a Christmas craft I was making. She was about 9 at the time. I was making Christmas angels out of styrofoam cones and balls, draping them with cloth soaked in papier mache mix, drying them and then spray painting them gold. A month or so later, she presented me with her version of this craft. She had decorated her own styrofoam angel with bits of cloth and trimmings. It was so uniquely hers, and so beautiful to me. It sits on my bureau, and my angel looks at me every day.
For me Christmas is about the giving. I think one of the best gifts I ever gave was to my boyfriend at the time. He has a day job, but one of his hobbies is magic. He takes it very seriously. He and his children were going to see David Copperfield in Pasadena. I decided I wanted to be able to find a way to get him backstage to meet David Copperfield as his Christmas gift. Through a magic forum I explained what I was trying to do. A man who lived in Florida replied to my email saying he loved my story. He would see what he could do. A few days later I got an email from Chris Kenner (right-hand man to David Copperfield) with his email, phone number, and was told to have my boyfriend call him the night of the show and he would arrange for them to go backstage. I sent my boyfrined a picture frame with DC's picture in it, film, and a phone number with instructions to call this number once he got to the show. I said no more. He and his children were ushered backstage after the show. My boyfriend was thrilled.
It was actually a birthday present for my mom. My mom is well off and has insisted for years that she is in the 'don't buy me anything, I'm trying to get rid of stuff' stage of life. She has several eye health issues and very poor vision and had recently had cataract surgery. For the first time in her life, she no longer needed glasses. It was a profound and exciting experience for her. I found a UK based charity that provided cataract surgery (and many other essentials) for the elderly in third world countries. For £10, another grandparent got the gift of sight, and my mom cried when she got the card announcing the donation.
If anyone's interested, here's a link: www.cowsnthings.org.uk
My husband and I have been the recipient of the most amazing act of love, trust and selflessness, not once, but three times.
Three different women; young, brave, and strong, made the decision to place their infants for adoption. In each case they chose us to be the parents of their baby. No Christmas, birthday, Mother's Day or holiday goes by without my heart being full of gratitude for this act of hope and courage. Thank you Tonya, LaToya, and Linda you are my heroes.
A year ago today in the midst of both a health and financial crisis, my husband, kids and I went to the Christmas Eve service at our church. Before the service was set to begin I was pulled aside by someone who works at the church. She handed me a wad of bills and whispered that someone wanted me to have this money, but wished to remain anonymous.In that moment I burst into tears as I felt the power of community and the true spirit of giving at Christmas. I will always remember that Christmas Eve and will do my best to keep that spirit alive and pay that anonymous gift forward every year for the rest of my life.
This year has been a difficult one for my family. Both me and my husband lost our jobs within a few weeks of one another. With a new baby and 7 year old the worry of being able to care for our family was overwhelming at times.During this year I have been brought to tears many times by the generosity of stangers, aquantances, friends and family.The ananomous person who bought lunch for my daughter at Olive Garden last week. The friend who bought me glasses, saving me from constant headaches. The woman I have never met from a yahoo group who sent a check to our family. Family and friends providing warmth, gas money, basketball registration and car payments.The Salvation Army provided Christmas for our family, from dinner to wrapping paper to bikes for the kids. For these and many more gifts I have recieved this year, I give thanks with the promise to pay it forward. Blessings to all.