Buying gifts for others can be hard, so we can be forgiving when others' presents aren't quite what we wanted. Sometimes, though, they get it exactly right and you get a present that you will cherish for the rest of your life.
Reddit user u/FaceplantStu asked:
"What's the best present you ever received?"
10.
When I was really young, I thought I might want to be a scientist. My grandmother didn't really understand what scientists do and gave me a stethoscope. Some clinical scientists use stethoscopes but for the most part, not really useful. I pretended to like it and the stethoscope sat in my closet for years.
I'm graduating from med school now and have used the same stethoscope across all these years. It's my good luck charm.
9.
A cookbook that my mom made. She handwritten out each recipe of my favorite dishes growing up. The day that I moved out of the house, she gifted this to me.
8.
A jar of Nutella.
I had quit a job I was going nowhere in, applying and interviewing like crazy while supporting my then-gf while she was getting through college. I had burned through most of my savings...I was throwing parties every weekend so I could take the empty beer bottles that friends left at home to the grocery store (there's refundable fees where I live) and buy food with the little amount I would get...
I would barely eat breakfast, then feign interest in dinner so my gf could eat and succeed at school.
One night, we went to the restaurant with my parents and one of their friends, who thought I had lost some weight...
My dad slipped me some money before leaving, and when I called later that week, to borrow some more money for rent, he asked me if I was ok. I told him that things were tight, but that we managed. He told me "I don't want you to sell your guitar..."
I didn't answer.
Parents called back a few days later, saying that they would stop by, since they would be in town. I was in for a surprise.
When I got the door, my mom was standing there with a box filled with groceries...
"Go help your dad, " she said, "there's more..."
They had brought us three big boxes full of food, including homemade meals...
While we were unpacking and putting stuff away, my mom took out a jar of Nutella from one of the boxes.
"Sometimes, all you need is a little bit more than the bare minimum," she said.
My eyes were wet... dad made me promise to never put my health in danger by being proud...
7.
A woman I met through work, actually my boss at the time, is one of the most caring and compassionate people I've ever met. Through work we grew a great friendship and to this day, though she isn't my boss anymore, she's my best friend.
Growing up, I've adored the game "The Legend of Zelda Majora's Mask". I've always wanted it on N64 but being a kid I only ever owned a PlayStation and played Nintendo consoles at my family friends house.
Well fast forward and me and that particular girl are chatting about my on going mental health issues (I wasn't in a very good place).
She was always a great supporter of mine and would often pep me up about continuing on through my issues. One day, out of no where she comes up to me, and hands me something. It was a game. It was Majora's Mask for the N64!
She knew I loved that game, and she actually loved it too. She herself has a tattoo of majora and loves everything and anything zelda. She gave me her childhood copy. It was a sign of the relationship we had built, and it was to show me how much I meant to her, and that if I went anywhere, she'd never be the same.
I recently got an N64 to play it and it's one of, if not my most prized possession. I keep her beaten file on it and never plan on deleting it :) it means the world to me!
6.
The wife and I built a little lake house a few years back. Did it all ourselves. She was a real trooper during the whole project and I was able to teach her a lot about construction. The Christmas after we got it done, she used all the progress pictures to make a book through that online thing Wal-Mart has. It was a really special present because of all of the commentary she put with the pictures. There are a lot of inside jokes and happy memories in that little book.
5.
When I was about 12, a steamer trunk full of equipment from a professional magician. It'd probably been sealed up since the mid 40s. Beautiful stuff.
4.
My dog. Husband gave him to me for Christmas the year after we got married. He was a couple years old when we had our daughter. They grew up together and he was absolutely the best dog I could have hoped for. We lost him a couple years back but the wonderful memories will last a lifetime.
3.
During my high school graduation party, my mother invited a few family friends I hadn't seen in years. One of whom was my deceased father's best friend, who I had taken to calling 'Uncle' when I was really young.
As a present, he gave me one of my father's old drawings of the astronaut from MTV. Something he drew over thirty years ago and I never knew it existed. It was a real shocker for everybody.
2.
When I turned 16, my first boyfriend stiched a pair of pants for me. He used colored thread to stitch a candle, a heart, a sun, the year, and more. Pretty darn cool embroidery. When you turned the jeans inside out, He had written love notes all over the inner fabric. Made me melt.
1.
I had major surgery my second year in college. I was hooked up with the nicest suite in the hospital due to my best friend's dad being a major figure there when all I really wanted was him to make sure I had a private room if one was available. My best friend was at school out of state and sent flowers, making sure that the florist didn't use anything pink (because I hated pink). Someone sent me a basket of my favorite snacks. My brother's boss, someone I had never met, stopped by with another coworker of his (another stranger) and gave me a plant. All of these were so thoughtful, but the absolute best gift came from the "funny guy" in our group of friends.
He knew that I would not be able to eat real food, so he made me jello. A two gallon Tupperware tub of jello with a (sanitized by boiling and new) squeaking dog toy in the middle because it "looked too boring" otherwise and he was still trying to make up for accidentally scaring my dog the year before. The level of thought he put into that blew me away. The dog never got the toy, I kept it and still have it more than 15 years later.