Favorite gifts
- a Skipper doll with red hair. I found her in the attic during a California Christmastime. A week later she was tagged under the tree for my sister, but as was the practice in our family, my sibs and I had previewed and swapped in mind prior to opening. Later, Skip traveled to NC. She attended college. She survived my children. Last week I gave her to my niece.
- Scholastic Books - Mom let me order a baker's dozen. Stormy, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Nancy Drew, all the favorites!
- Heaven Scent compact perfume. I wore it to my first dance. I wore it daily, afterward.
- A jewelry box, hand made, walnut. A secret compartment in the bottom where the four-leaf clover we'd found one spring has always remained hidden, laminated. The gift is now in a bin, with a letter inside. Someday it will be returned to the giver.
-A wedding ring quilt. Loops and loops of familiar fabric. Beautiful, small stitches, and now on my daughter's bed.
- Shag Carpet. We heated with wood in an old, uninsulated cinder-block house. A frozen winter. My husband cut wood and traded a load for a carpet roll of shag. Dark brown. Swirly. Few gifts have ever compared.
- An oak end table. Same said husband knew I had a special longing for old wringer washing machines. He found one and refashioned it into an end oak table. I was delighted. It almost rivals the carpet. In the daughter's foyer.
- Pearl earrings. Simple with a golden leaf. Treasured still. Occasionally worn.
- Red roses and a nubby, brown sweater. Blood red petals in a crystal vase. I had them dried and mounted inside heirloom glass. I see them now. A rose heart on the wall. The brown sweater, deftly folded.
-A stone bracelet set in silver. Blacks, browns. An elegant, lovely gift. Youngest daughter lifts every chance she gets.
- A book.
The time has come, the Walrus said,
To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing wax--
of cabbages and kings.
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings.
(Lewis Carroll, 1872)
My heart beats fast when this verse is read aloud. What larks!
As I wrote this list, I wondered also about gifts I had given.
--A blue-grey scarf, crocheted long in the night.
--A hammer. I saved grocery stamps until I could trade for the gift.
--A collection of your favorite home-baked cookies. Wrapped in cellophane, tied with a red bow. Nestled in a basket.
--A leather jacket. I knew it was desired. A perfect fit.
--A Stihl chainsaw. New, roaring, loud. Needed for building the log house.
--Golf Clubs and a membership. What was I thinking?
--A wooden rule. Asked for.
--Three XL tall small check cotton shirts. I still see the form and shape.
--Books. Stacks of them. Relevant to land and rent.
--A lantern, antique globe, very old, placed into a collection.
-- A black cocktail dress. Stockings. Red polish. Sax music. Cherries in a jar. What was I thinking?
-- 
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Ashley Holt
jackie2
The Songbird
Bullet or Film
Ernesto Tinajero
Rodney Roe
Salon.com
Comments
And this year, for the first time in far too many years, a birthday gift from a man who cares: a silver pendant that has barely come off for a moment since I received it.
And the mild sense of trepidation that comes with giving someone a gift for the first time...
I have two - a double edge shaver that my father used his entire life and a harmonica from my grandpa.
I remember memorizing "Jabberwocky" when I was about 9 years old...Weird kid, huh?
:-)
I never liked Skipper because I wanted Barbie's attention all to myself. Barbie would have friends that I chose FOR her. That's the pathology of being the youngest and the only girl!
Love your post and the sentimentality you express for both the giving and receiving.
R
You left out one thing in the gifts you have given: Your writing here.
Aim/BL - The horse came to me in an e-mail.
Serinta--I agree, odd lot. Your comment, in part, connects with the title. But, each gift is its own story, and not always a preference, nor festive. The hammer alone is a post and takes my head to a place far away. Thanks for your keen observation.
What a great book.
R