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What Makes A Gift Memorable?

By Melissa Markham on November 30, 2007 8:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I am 41 1/2 years old. In that time, I daresay, I have received thousands of gifts. Many I probably don't remember unless you hypnotized me. But there are ones that over the years have stuck out for a variety of reasons. When I was five, my parents bought me a swing set. I loved my swing set for many years after that. One of the most remarkable things about that gift was my parents sent to friends the day before and they put it together, and then brought me home after dark. The next morning I followed a trail of notes until I located my birthday present. It was awesome! And I still remember it clearly! One year my mom got me a Princess Phone for my room. I had been begging for my own phone line (my parents didn't allow me to have long conversations because someone important might be trying to call), but that phone went in my room and I was allowed to have the longer conversations, even though I was still sharing the phone line with mom and dad.

My husband has given me some truly amazing gifts over the years. A trip to Vegas for my 30th birthday. The complete DVD collection of the Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman. A limousine for my 35th birthday and we had a night out on the town...having all of those people staring at our vehicle as we pulled up at the restaurant andlater the club was very cool! Weekend trips to Maine, Lake Tahoe, hiking and a bed and breakfast for birthdays and anniversaires. All of these gifts gave me wonderful memories to last a life time.

I think the best gifts I ever gave my husband were 1) the year I bought him a piano for Valentine's Day. He had taken lessons for 12 years and it is a gift that not only he enjoys today, but both our children enjoy as they are now taking piano lessons. The other cool gift I gave him was gift certificates for plane instruction time. When my husband was in his teen years, he had a few flying lessons and he often spoke of wanting to do it again. So one year, my mom and I both gave him certificates that ended up to being the equivalent of five or six lessons. He took those and followed up with other lessons until he was a certified IFR pilot. He also took aerobatic flying lessons with Rich Stowell out in California.

Gifts like these..the ones that provide us with new adventures, new things to learn, new ways to push ourselves...they are the ones that we will remember when we are old and gray and sitting on the front porch with our grandchildren at our feet. If you want to give a gift like this, but aren't really sure where to start or what's out there, try visiting Excitations. They have several categories that you can choose from in your search for the perfect gift for a loved one! You can find something that will amaze them based on their interests.

For other memorable gift stories, go visit The Parent Bloggers Network. Put something different under your Christmas tree this year....something unique, something unexpected, something fun and adventurous!