Gifts from the Heart

There’s nothing better than the feeling you get when you give someone the perfect gift. As the readers here have discovered, sometimes the most special and creative gifts are also the least expensive. These memorable presents focus on experiences and items whose value lies in their meaning — not in what they’d fetch in a store.

A Box Full of Memories
One of the best and most memorable gifts my family ever received was a wooden treasure box, about 10 inches square, that came from my brother and sister-in-law six years ago. In the top of the lid was a poem written by my brother:

There once was a box full of treasure
That carried good times without measure.
Each year as it passed
We placed memories to last
Ev’ry Christmas it brings us great pleasure.

The two of them explained that through the year we were to put souvenirs of good times in the box. Then at Christmas, we could take out the items and remember the activities.

It has been fun to see what our family thinks is “box-worthy.” We have included programs from concerts our kids have been in; zoo tickets; a hat we bought at the circus; a stick we found on a hike; an ostrich feather from when we went to an ostrich farm; the key tag from our new car; and cotton from a field near where I grew up.

Looking through the treasures and talking about our experiences brings back those happy feelings. The box reminds us of what it really means to be part of our family. – Christina Reay, Peoria Arizona