The Most Meaningful Christmas Gifts

Guest Contributor: Kathy Riggs
USU Extension Professor

I subscribe to our local daily newspaper and right beneath the crossword puzzle (which I try to complete daily) is the long-time column known as “Dear Abby”. While many of the questions posted are related to dealing with human frailties and requests to receive advice of how to “fix” problems, occasionally there is a post that catches my eye.
Recently, there was a post by grandparents regarding their granddaughter sending a Christmas gift last year they referred to as “a gift of a lifetime” which they have enjoyed all year long. “What was the gift and how much did it cost?” might be going through your mind as it did mine. As I do not have permission to quote the message, I’ll summarize it as best I can:

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The gift was a wrapped up in a beautiful wrapped box tied up with a pretty bow and placed beneath the Christmas tree with all the other presents. What was inside the box was a gift of memories written on 12 separate cards sealed in envelopes to be opened on the first day of each month identified on the envelope. The grandparents mention the anticipation of what each new memory might be.
 
Inside each envelope were experiences long forgotten or experiences the grandparents hadn’t realized had made such an impact on their granddaughter’s life. The grandparents advocated for also turning the gift idea around for grandparents to send out to grandchildren sharing experiences from their perspective.
 
The investment of sharing a meaningful thought, the expense of taking time to share a hand-written sentiment and the reward of increased love and closeness will be long-lasting and treasured always by grandparents who really don’t need “things” for Christmas. 
 
Summarized from article printed in: Dear Abby, THESPECTRUM.COM, Tuesday, December 1, 2020, (page 3B).