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12/14/05 Gifts


Minis On The Edge

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What was the least expenisve gift that you "received" from someone and you "Cherished" it, not because of the gift, but because of who it was from?

What was the least expensive gift "you gave" and you were surprised that the person Cared for it dearly?

Mine is:

I bought my son a Sesame Street "dress me" Ernie doll when he was about 2 1/2 years old. He slept with this doll so much that I washed him a lot. Well, when he turned 13 it was so raggedy that I was gonna throw it away. He hid him from me and do you know that he still has him and has him on his bed (He's 17 years old). His 2 best friends even knows about it :blink: .

I asked him "why" he likes "Ernie" so much a couple of years ago (Ernie is looking pretty bad right now) and he told me it is because it's the first toy that he remembers me buying him. Then he said one night, I sprayed some of my perfume on it because he said he liked the way I smelled and I was going to the Movies with my best friend and he was staying home with my Mom. He said Ernie smelled like me for a long time.

I was so touched that I sewed "Ernie's" arm back on and I bought him a new one that I found on ebay.

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I can't remember the least expensive gift that I ever gave but I certainly remember the least expensive gift I ever received. When I was 14, I was in a car accident (my best friend from kindergarten was killed). I was hospitalized for a few months and in a semi private hospital room which I shared with a woman who was in her late 70's. At that time, this woman had been diagnosed with breast cancer. She gave me a card when she was leaving and in that card was a lace handerchief and I still have both the card and hanky today. She died two years later, I will never forget her.

Wendy

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I don't know if this would be considered a gift by most but here goes.

I was 15 and my aunt had just died. We drove up to New York for the funeral. It was October and we were the only people staying at the hotel. I remember that being the loneliest time in my life. As we were leaving the hotel the morning of the funeral, I was approached by a young man who worked at the hotel. He didn't say anything, he just handed me a single rose. I still have the petals from that rose. That simple act of kindness was the greatest gift I have ever received.

The gift I gave was a tiny framed picture. My sister had a dog named Patty who she had rescued. After many years of love, Patty passed away. My sister's first Christmas after Patty's death, I gave her a framed photo of the two of them together. Of course my sister cried, but she has cherished that picture and still has it where she can see it everyday.

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I don't remember ever meeting my paternal grandparents, but my paternal grandmother sent me a ballerina rag doll with three dresses that she made me. I played with it until my mother decided I was "too old" and "put it away" along with my dollhouse & all my dolls. Years later when I was going through her garage after my stepdad dies I found all those wonderful toys; the garage leaked & this was in S FL so the mildew & bugs had destroyed everything!

I made my DMIL a needlepoint bellpull with butterflies that I designed myself that she still hangs in a place of honor in her home & brags on to everyone.

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All your stories are so touching! Makes me want to cry!!

The least expensive gift I ever gave was to my precious niece Chelsei. It was a baby Cabbage Patch doll that I gave her for Christmas when she was just 2. Well, she's now 18 and she still has "Basil". He's a little worn and tattered, but she loves him still just the same!! :blink:

I don't know if this was the least expensive gift I ever got, but my Mom bought me a jewelry/music box when I was 12 years old for Christmas. I love the song it plays "Fur Elise" and the little ballerina that dances. I still have it and it is very precious to me!! :p

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The stories are touching!!

I forgot to add my treasured gift was from my Mother & father back in the 80s when the Cabbage patch kid came out. Being a kid I did not realize just how broke my parents were. My dad had lost his job and was working at a gas station to get by and my mother cleaned houses in the Beverly area ($25 per house :blink:).

We went to SEARS and I saw the Cabbage Patch doll. My Mom asked me if I wanted her and I said yes. Well, my mom was not gonna go to work the next day cause she was sick but she did. She came home with the cabbage patch doll for me and I still have her too. When I got a little older I fell in love with her even more when it finally clicked in my brain that she bought that doll for me and it cost a days work for her (I got mine before the big rush and it was $24.99;) ) which was a lot of money for a doll.

Teresa, Fur Elise is my husbands favorite

:p

I bought him a "Card" music box for our 9th year anniversary and when you open it the words :Happy Anniversary pops up and the music Fur Elise plays. :lol:

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Tracy, that is such a wonderful, yet sad, story! It's amazing what our parents went through for us. I remember as a child we didn't get much during the year except for birthdays and Christmas. We got new clothes for school too. Ah, the good old days!

Nice gift for your hubby too, Tracy!!

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I have to think about this for a while. My most treasured gifts were all the things the kids made for me when they were small. I have to think more on a gift that I gave to someone else ...

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treasured gift from me....up untill I gave my BGF and her girls the Willowcrest it was my daughters "kid sister" remeber those dolls? I wanted to buy her one for Christmas and I just couldnt swing 18$ for a doll when she needed other things

so I got her a cheeper doll(she never played with)

a month or so passed and we were in the store and I see a display of the dolls 1/2 price. and as we had just got our taxes back that doll was hers. on the way home I asked her what her new friends name was and she said "cassie Lou"

she was 2 and we know no one by that name. she still has a spot in sis room.

most treasured gift???

well it has to be this polyresin kitten sleeping in a cat basket.

one of those token gift given to me by my Mothers new boyfriend our first Christmas together. but when he passed 15 yrs later he was like the father I never had. and that stupid ugly cat is in my Christmas box and gets a place of honor in the living room every yr...did I forget to mention it has a Christmas bow on it? "oh mom look here's Lenards cat! :blink: :lol: "

I wonder who will inherit it after me.

rofl!!!

nutti :p

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Like Linda, the most cherished gifts I've gotten have come from my son and step daughter. The first Christmas I was married she bought me a pin, that only a nine year old would love,pink and purple flowers covered with rhinstones spelling out Mom. It made me feel so special. I wore it Christmas day of course and its been in my jewlery box for the last 30 years.

The best gift I ever gave was to my son, when he was 6 he developed diabetes. That Easter I bought him a stuffed bunny rabbit for his easter basket since he couldn't have much candy. Shortly after Easter, he developed alot of problems with his diabetes and was in and out of the hospital for about 2 years and once was hospitalized for 4 months. "Bunny" went to the hospital every time. He even had his own hospital bracelet. Over the years Bunny got beat up, and very very worn and I forgot about him. When my son was moving out on his own, we were up in the attic gathering things for his apt, and I opened a box and there was Bunny. My son took the box from me and asked if he could leave him with me where he would be safe in the attic. When I asked him why he still had that old toy, he told me Bunny was the most precious thing he owned, It got him through all those hospital trips and nights when I couldn't be with him. He said Bunny was to important to ever throw away. I cried for 2 hours. Bunny is still in his box wrapped in tissue paper wearing his hospital braclet.

terri

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The least expensive gift that I have ever received and the one most precious to me, was the gift of my granddaughter, Shalean. I was never able to have children of my own, and she was a gift to me from a younger friend. She's 7 years old now and I love her so much.

The gift that I gave that meant the most to somebody else, was Shalean's reaction to everything that I said, did or gave to her. She proudly declares to everyone that "my grammy loves me no matter what". That she loves me in return blows me away.

Susanne

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I think I mentioned on another post about the family tree album I made for a niece, it only costs was time and paper. Her parents had actually bought a sort of antique album at a yard sale and I did a family tree with pictures (scanned and mostly black and white) with funny stories my mother her gm and aunt had told me over the years about the various gp, aunts, uncles and cousins. Her reaction when she opened that gift was worth so much. She burst into tears hugged the album to her and started reading on the spot.

I, too have received various gifts from my daughters and hubby that hold precious memories. But the most recent gift to make me cry was a six pack of cokes (you know the original coke in the little bottles). My mother loved these cokes and we always made sure she had them. My nephew-in-law always brought her some on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Mother passed away last year but this Thanksgiving the nephew brought the six pack to me, said he couldn't break tradition and picked me to be the recipient. I know this sounds odd and silly, but not only was I surprised that he did this, but to know that Mama's memory lives on not only to her kids but to the "inlaws" just tore me up. I still haven't had the heart to open them and drink them yet LOL

Peggi

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When we moved to Denver, Bruce and I met a puppy playful, starved for love, genuine one of a kind, purely delightful kid named Lee and we soon discovered we had adopted a 22 year old son. He'd had an abusive childhood and his family rejected him, mainly because he was gay. He'd been on his own for years before we met him. Even if he wasn't born to us, no one ever loved a son any more than we loved Lee. He was the child I could never have and I think we were the parents he always wanted. He moved in next door to us, and went to work with us, and we were just plain family for five years.

Two Christmases ago, Lee gave me a little pottery jar; nothing fancy, just a pretty little blue pottery jar with a lid. He told me it was to keep my dreams in and it made me cry because it was such a gift from the heart. The gift wasn't just a little jar, it was his sincere wish that all my dreams come true.

We lost Lee to AIDS a year ago last spring and my heart still aches because I miss him so much. I look at that little pottery jar and realize that it truly holds one of my most cherished dreams come true.....I had a wonderful son even if it was just for a little while.

Deb

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I cannot remember the least expensive gift I ever gave someone, but I can remember the two most treasured ones I have received....

One was from my Dad's dad--my grandfather, I called him Pap like my Daddy did..after my grandmother died when I was about 6, he was preparing to move back home to NC...and he took my mother and I out to lunch and bought me a little miniature porcupine pin in the hotel gift shop before he went home on the train...I have kept that small little pin that cost a dime for over 25 years.....

the second one was a card from my Uncle Bill...my grandfather's brother. He died about two or three years ago, he was the eccentric :lol: in my Pap's family...the card said that Angels are our friends that walk on earth....and I keep it about the house always.....

I have received gifts from others that I treasure also, but I think these two are special because my grandfather and great uncle aren't here anymore, and also I remember when I received them....

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I'm going to cry--but the good thing about this is it makes you realize their is still good people in the world, I much rather read these great stories and feel the love everyone has experience from the little things in life than listen to the news which is filled with gloom and doom.

Peggi

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What a great question! The least expensive gift I received but one that meant the most was a stuffed monkey. I was adopted when I was 3 and came with a ratty stuffed monkey. Well, my mother bought me a brand new bear and threw out the monkey thinking I would never miss it. I looked for it for months. Then, this last year for Christmas, my mom replaced my monkey!!! How wonderful -- I sleep with him still! LOL

The least expensive gift I ever gave was to a co-worker I really didn't know all that well. I just felt the need to hug her and apparently, she really needed it, she told me she was having a very awful day and that helped her so much. She said it was the best gift she ever received.

Debbie

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The least expensive gift I ever gave was to a co-worker I really didn't know all that well.  I just felt the need to hug her and apparently, she really needed it, she told me she was having a very awful day and that helped her so much.  She said it was the best gift she ever received. 

Debbie

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm not really sure I've ever given anything that was really cherrished.. regardless of cost but the best gift I ever got was when I was 4 - my dad brought me home a dog - Pop was and is a drinker and one night at the bar he met a guy who had this white german shephard that he'd gotten for his kids and the kids didn't want it so the guy went home and got it brought it to the bar and dad brought her home in the pouring rain. Then he went back out to the bar.. well when he got home the dog wouldn't let him in house :lol: She didn't recognize him and was darn well going to protect her new home. I slept on the floor with the dog that night, hugging her - From that day till the day she died she was my best and usually my only friend. I still remember how her fur smelled. She was the only creature from my childhood (animal or human) that I knew loved me unconditionally.

The story about the hug though reminded me of my son. Right after we moved here we were in a video store and I was looking to rent amovie and couldn't find it so we asked for help from the store clerk - he was a big guy - african american, very muscular about a foot and a half taller than me. He looked like he could take on the world - very strong looking man. Well my son kept staring at him and then all of a sudden he just stepped over and gave the guy a huge hug - and all of a sudden this huge strong guy started crying. He appologized and said he'd been having the worst week and just really needed a hug right then. He wondered how my son knew that.. I wondered how I didn't know that - how a person can walk right by another or talk to them and not notice that they're in so much pain.

-David

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Well my son kept staring at him and then all of a sudden he just stepped over and gave the guy a huge hug - and all of a sudden this huge strong guy started crying.  He appologized and said he'd been having the worst week and just really needed a hug right then.  He wondered how my son knew that.. I wondered how I didn't know that - how a person can walk right by another or talk to them and not notice that they're in so much pain.

    -David

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

David - I cried when I read your stories. More than we often realize, people around us are carrying private pain. I believe your son is gifted with a great deal of empathy.

Your story about the German Shepherd dog is so touching. My brother's German Shepherd, Sierra, died 3 1/2 months ago. He's in such pain over her loss. She was devoted to him, and he to her. They have two other dogs (german shepherd cross, and blue heeler) and a cat. Sierra was the alpha dog, and Jasper (the younger german shepherd) is trying to fill her role. Pippin (blue heeler) is very shy and prefers to led the other dogs lead. Even though she's a big dog, she loves to cuddle on your lap.

Susanne

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As a newly examined teacher I ended up in this class with 28 11-12 yeard olds in it. Actually I were hired to step in after their other teacher had resinged due to the work situation in the classroom and I started Friday the 13th of October, As it happened they were a very "livley" bunch and there were blood, sweat and tears along the way. After a year and an ulcer later we had stated to like each other so to speak and the class arranged an "anniversary" party without me knowing about it and when we started school this morning they had put a basket of flowers on m y desk and a card where it read "thank you for putting up with us for a full year, we appreciate it very much" Needless to say I cried my eyes out that day as well as on their graduating day the following spring and I keep the card in my diary.

As for the least expensive gift I have given, well that is something I need to think about a little more...

Hugs

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Well, I've thought and thought and thought. The gift that I gave, which meant so much to me and even more to me, was when I discovered that my friend Kim really wanted a dollhouse, and so I gave her the Laurel I had been hoarding. She was so stunned when we appeared at her house. Jimmy started the base shell for her, and she took off after that and it was just beautiful to see! She loves that house very much!

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oh Linda!!

you gave your Laurel away also?

Sabrina my ex SIL. came from Alabama to Missouri

to get my Laurel. she came to get her things from storage also but the dollhouse was a huge draw!

and she did a wonderful job. she loves that house.

your friend is lucky to have a friend like you who knows that all women need a dollhouse.

I have not met a woman yet who wouldnt love to have a dollhouse.

good for you.

nutti :)

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Yep Nutti, I gave that Laurel away the minute that I found out this particular friend really wanted a dollhouse. She was always buying me little things for my dollhouse and when I found out she really wanted one, I gave it to her. I got another one, and Jimmy gave that one to his niece when we were in New Jersey ...

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