Of all the presents you have received in the last five years, which touched your heart the most?

When I was really poor and working my way through college, I ended up selling most of my possessions. Recently, an old friend came to visit bringing with her my grand mother’s china and a redwood horse-head my brother had given me long ago. She didn’t want to be reimbursed for them. She said she bought them knowing she’d give them back to me when I was in a better place. they are the only items I have from my childhood.

New heart-valve, last christmas.

A gift that my sister bought for me the weekend before she died. Her husband gave it to me when I arrived for her memorial service.

It is a silly metal sculpture that looks like a cartoon version of my dog. It is also a candleholder. I light the candle once a year on her birthday. As I watch the smoke drift heavenward, I like to think that she knows that I am thinking of her at that time.

It’ll sound corny, I guess.
My mom passed away this year.
And she had won me this little stuffed doll out of those crane games, while we were at the fair of course.

So its something I really, really love, She gave it to me a month before she died.

When I turned 21, one of my very best friends bought a Kim Possible doll and re-dressed it, redesigned the box, totally redid the whole thing to make it a Me doll! I totally loved it. She didn’t have a lot of money at the time and was kind of embarrassed when she gave it to me, but I still think it is one of the best things I’ve ever been given. I proudly have it on display all the time.

(Really, it’s freaking SWEET. Most of the awesomeness comes from the extreme attention to detail she showed. It also said a lot about our relationship and that she knew me in the same way I did. It’s hard to explain, I think, but it’s wonderful.)

To generalize, the best gifts have been stuff that my kids have made for me and gifts that my husband thought up to obtain all on his own.

When I legally changed my name, this woman I worked with (and didn’t really know) bought me a silver ID bracelet with my new name engraved on it.

@loser Soon as you change you user name, just tell me where to send the bracelet, because you are so not a loser!

I turned 40 this year, and my parents flew my baby sisters to Boston from Australia as a surprise for my birthday. Our nanna died the week before (she was 97), and had written a card to me before she passed on, which my sisters had brought with them. Her funeral was actually on my birthday too, which gave an extra tug on the heartstrings when I opened her card and saw the dear message she’d written to me in her shaky handwriting.

an unexpected one from my bestfriend.
I was so bummed she couldn’t make it to my birthday she put an album/scrapbook together with little quotes and stories next to them.

The fun stuff from our past, the present and our future together.

She actually showed up on the day of my birthday to give it to me but could not make my big party that coming weekend.

She said don’t worry we will grow old together.

When my dad and grandfather finally resigned to the idea that I was now, and will always be, married to another woman. They did this by hugging my wife for the first time in the 3 years that they had known her. This gesture seemed to mean that she was now part of the family. The women and younger ones never had a problem with it, but my dad and grandfather were the last bastions of virtue, or whatever.

@tinyfaery – that is probably one of the most wonderful gifts that they could ever give you.

A letter from my daughter formulated like a job-reference and oh, just so touching.
Also, an expresso-machine, bought for me by my son with his very first earnings, but that was much longer than 5 years ago and the machine is but a memory

@Marina—I second that! I’ve been talking to loser through email and PMs for the past week or so and he is, in fact, made of awesome.

To answer the question: When I moved across the country in April my friend’s husband Mark gave me a little mini Marine flag. It was the one he got when he was first recruited and he told me that when he’s feeling down and questions his ability to go on and deal with things, he just looks at that flag and draws strength from it. The military is definitely not my thing but it was the meaning behind it that made it the most touching thing anyone had ever given me, and it’s now one of my most prized possessions.

@MacBean Thanks for that image. I have been having a tough day, and I will now think of having a little flag for inspiration.

I’ll third it! How about name suggestions for loser??? Oh that should be another thread ok…

I just asked it….and gave a couple suggestions…

@SeekerSeeking Been there, done that. Sadly, with the search the way it is, I cannot find the thread. Anyone else?

All the wonderful gifts made by my three sons, among then stationary with a thumb-print, a memory book, a blooming flower made of construction paper, and a beautiful bookmark.

My fiances compassion and understanding.

While in one hospital for in-patient chemo treatments (I’m touring the hospitals in the southeast!), the mother of a younger patient came in to tell me the very heartbreaking news of the passing of her son. I met him while waiting for a treatment. He was scared and we struck up a conversation. He just seemed like an older version of my son. It was very comforting to talk to him. He was just the really nice, happy boy…he hadn’t even made it to 10.

While we were talking, I told him my son loves Optimus Prime and the Transformers. When he passed away, his mother brought me his tranformers and thanked me for looking out for him, while she was working.

He had told me that one day, he and I would beat cancer and we could become Transformers. Knowing how precious her son was to her and the fact that she gave me some of his favorite toys was one of the most precious things I’ve ever received.

From my kids: Multi-course fondue dinner at my daughter’s house (no clean up at my place) with wine and coffee. Dinner took a few hours and we spent a lot of time just talking. The kids did all the work and my husband just had to get me there. It was great. They thought of every detail.

From my husband: This was at a time when I really needed an out-of-town break when I was living in Tucson. We hadn’t had a vacation in years. For my birthday I got a trip to Seattle. I’d never seen the city before and I just fell for it. We got to attend my first Bumbershoot festival and went to see Pearl Jam at the Gorge in George. It was a perfect trip.

I got an M3 from my dad.. it touched my heart to say the least! I love my old mannn

Of all of the gifts I have gotten (in the past 5 years, or ever) the ones I prize the most, are the Gifts of Friendship I’ve received from those who truly care about me.

The Gift of Friendship isn’t anything material, of course. “You can’t see it with your eyes nor hold it in your hand, but like the wind, it covers this land,” as the song goes…

The very best definition of the word “friend,” in my humble opinion, was written by a man named Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915), who noted that, “A ‘friend’ is a person who knows ALL ABOUT YOU, but loves you, anyway.”

The friendships I have cultivated and maintained in my life, are just awesome, and when I have been at my lowest moments, and there have been several, my friendships are what prevented me from losing all hope (and taking my own life).

Please excuse my rambling and going a little bit off-topic, but no matter how much money you have in your bank accounts and investment portfolios, if you are fortunate enough to have true friends in your life, then you are among the wealthiest people on this planet, and that is the only kind of gift I really want: The Gift of Friendship…

some my little pony stickers, doesn’t sound like much but my friend got me them for no apparent reason other than that they were sparkly and now i put them on all my belongings and it makes me happy

I have this necklace that belonged to my mom. It was one that my dad had given her many years ago and for Christmas one year she gave it to me. I ended up breaking the chain not once but twice. The 2nd time it sat in my jewelry box for probably close to a year because I couldn’t find a chain. My husband snuck it out of my jewelry box and put a chain on it, had it wrapped up and gave it back to me for Christmas. I remember looking for the charm and not seeing it. I thought I had lost it. Low and behold. My mom is now gone but the necklace reminds me of her everytime I wear it. It also reminds me of how much my husband loves me to go out and get it fixed for me for Christmas. He knows how much the necklace means to me.

Or anything fom my kids.

The ten Madagascar Cockroaches a friend gave me. Now I have about a hundred of them, the gift that just keeps on giving. They are my ‘babies’, and I love them to pieces.