It's the day embraced with one of three different mentalities: complete excitement, complete dread, or complete ambivalence. Rarely will you find someone outside of these boundaries, but that's the way birthdays operate. Our annual reminder that time sometimes is just a strict progression of cause to effect, but it can leave us with an effect to last us for forever.
Gifts.
We're talking about awesome gifts. Not big on monetary scale, not always, but they hit the right spot in our minds as well as our hearts.
Reddit user, u/egiunts, wanted to crack open the cake of our memories when they asked:
What is the most thoughtful gift you've received on your birthday?
The Perfect Encapsulation Of A Loved One
GiphyThis guy made a portrait of my dog and was very hesitant to give me cuz he thought it wasn't good enough. Eventually, he gave me later on and it was the best thing someone has ever done for me. Made my heart melt.
A Thousand Words
For my 20th birthday we had a HUGE party and my roommate at the time went around with a Polaroid camera and had me take photos with everyone at the party. She had them write nice things on the pictures. She framed it and it's still in my room 4 years later. Every time I look at it I smile.
51 Years of the Same, Untiring Story
My mother writes me a letter and describes the day of my birth to me each year. It has a slightly different tone every year- I am 51 this year and i treasure all of them.
Knowing Where You Came From
My husband tracked my genealogy back 7 generations. It was so cool!
That's wild! It is always cool to think of those that came before you, gives your life a whole new perspective. Inspirational gift imo
A Snow Day Well Spent
My sister paid to go snowboarding with me.
Still remember that day better than the vast majority of physical items I've received.
It Never Has To Be Anything Big
My GF made brigadeiros to me (A brazilian chocolate candy) and took the time to buy walnuts and put them in the recipe, cause one time I mentioned I like walnuts.
The fact that she noticed that little thing I said and applied it made me so happy.
They're Out There, Hidden, Waiting To Be Found
I am the middle child and I was unfortunately born at a time when my parents were going through a lot. Namely my dads mother was being an asshole to my mother so they moved out to a different house. They were strapped for money and really struggling as they abruptly moved out and they had me to look after too as a newborn. As a result, there's not many baby photos of me.
When I became a teenager I always used to get annoyed at how there's loads of photos of my older brother and my younger sister but hardly any of me.
For my 18th, my mum gave me a photo album and in it was loads of photos of young me she managed to find after months of looking through loads of old albums and asking relatives.
It was the most amazing present I've ever had and nothing will ever top it.
A Meal With People You Love
Before my 30th birthday I was depressed and didn't have the energy or the will to plan for it, invite people or even talk to people.
I was resigned to spending my birthday alone in my room, only answering my phone when people call to congratulate.
My best friend called and asked if I wanted to come visit, he had dinner ready. So, hungry as I was, I walked over to his place.
Most of my closest friends arrived there one by one, so it was a very chill evening with 10 people I'm always comfortable with, great food and great wine. He had organized everything.
Socks For Eternity
GiphyMy brother and I are a year apart, and I worked really hard to get us a place to live after I graduated. Once he finally graduated, he left for the service. He asked me what I wanted for my birthday that year and I jokingly said socks cuz I can't afford to keep replacing them all the time. We usually don't exchange gifts that cost any money, but that year this mf came home with a GI duffle bag full of new socks. Like an uncountable amount of pairs. So I wore GI socks for years at work. That was like 10 years ago, and several moves across states later I found another f-cking single green sock unpacking a couple months back. Thanks bro.
You'll Never Know For Sure Until Much Later, So Love It Now
I turned 39, in the summer 2010. I wasn't taking it well, and I didn't want to celebrate. My Dad convinced me to at least let him and Mom take me out to eat. I agreed. We went to a place called Harold's NY Deli in NJ. Got the corned beef. delicious.
Dad passed away less than 2 months later. I'll always treasure that memory. Glad he talked me into it.
"What is the best couple in sitcom history?"
Creating An Even More Welcoming Community
"Troy and Abed. A couple of friends."- aghzombies
"They did grace the cover of Best Friends Weekly."- DwightsEgo
Sorry Amy...
"Peralta and Doug Judy."- DavosLostFingers
"Reunited and it feels so good 🎶."- Ghostenx
"PSYCH"!... No, Seriously...
"Shawn Spencer and Burton Guster."- dazedcap
"'I'm Black, he's Tan'."- CrueGuyRob
Shawn Spencer What GIFGiphy"Snap, Snap."
"The correct answer is Gomez and Morticia Addams."- Reddit
"They loved each other dearly. "
"They were completely enamored with each other, spent time with their kids, their family."
"Accepted everyone as they were."
"It wasn't til I was an adult That I realized married couples weren't meant to hate each other."
"My mother had many partners in my childhood, she's toxic and things were always chaotic."
"And watching 90s sitcoms, I thought married people were meant to hate each other, and I always wondered what the point was."- MissMurder8666
Overshadowed By Their Middle Child...
"Hal and Lois."- MrRocketman999
"As a husband, I don't think I can live up to Hal."
"He sort of sets a really high standard lol."
"He loves her like they are still in the honeymoon phase."
"So infatuated with her lol."- treathugger
A Better Couple? Many Would Say, "Knope"...
"Ben and Leslie."
"I' love you and I like you.'"
"Simple line, yet so powerful."- Radkeyoo
Amy Poehler Ben GIF by Parks and RecreationGiphy"Gruesome", But Adorable
"Frank and Charlie from Always Sunny in Philadelphia."
"The gruesome twosome."- Herr_Poopypants
The Parents Everyone Wished Were Theirs...
"Bob and Linda from 'Bobs burgers'."- shashybaws
"All of the Belchers have such great relationships with each other. "
"They're wholly accepting and supportive (even if they disagree)."
"They really love each other, and it shows."- SummerOfMayhem
UK Version Only, Of Course...
"Moss and Roy (The IT Crowd)."- pentapotamia
"'I'm your wife, Roy!'"- Summerof5ft6andahalf
"'If anything, I’m the husband!'"- pentapotamia
it crowd chris odowd GIFGiphyAfterlife Be Damned... Or not, Actually...
"Eleanor and Chidi from 'The Good Place.'"
"How can you beat two deeply flawed people who together make each other better over and over again?"- hotbimess
Ruining All Food For Viewers, One Food Group At A Time...
"The only correct answer is - Scully and Hitchcock."- Prestigious-Net-2236
"Back off! It's our microwave! Ours! GRRRRRRR!"- Lvcivs2311
Nostalgic And Wonderful
"Kitty and Red from That 70s/90s Show."- saginator5000
"I like how Red on the surface seems like a mean parent who doesn’t let his kids have fun."
"But he’s watching out for his kids."
"And he’s a good man."
"He has a hard and stressful time supporting his family and he is grumpy sometimes but he would do anything for his family and he really loves them."
"What he does for Hyde is amazing."
"He just doesn’t put up with BS."- themanfromvulcan
Mothers Day Woman GIF by LaffGiphyIt Seems Everyone Is Better With Turk At Their Side
"Turk and Carla."
"Or Turk and JD. (Scrubs)."- JCBAwesomist
"Turk and JD all the way."- nunyabidnez76
Can't We Get Back What We Once Had?...
"Homer and Marge had a lot of beautiful moments back in the older seasons."
"Sadly, seasonal rot has ruined a lot of that."
"I miss a lot of how the characters used to be."
"Like, Homer was an oaf and a brute, but he loved his family immensely and deeply and would (and DID) do any and everything for them."
"He'd catch details like in that episode about the streetcar play that you wouldn't think he would."
"He gave up beer for a month for Marge and we got to see that, for him, it wasn't just a minor thing."
'Lisa might have been intelligent but she not only had ample 'dumb/shallow' moments, she also was very close to Bart and, likewise, Bart was close to her."
"He might struggle in school but he also showed he wasn't dumb either."- Snowtwo
homer simpson love GIFGiphyBe they married in the first episode or on and off again for an insufferable amount of time (looking at you, Jeanine and Gregory in Abbott Elementry!), sitcom couples give us people to root for and fill our own hearts with hope.
So much so that we don't mind following the arc of their love stories over and over again.
And yes, the episode where David meets Patrick's parents remains a tearjerker, no matter how many times you watch it.
Redditor gejiw94601 wanted to compare notes on how money can slip away so easily, so they asked:
"What's the biggest waste of money?"
Money is so easy to lose.
Just ask my best friend... vodka.
WHY?!
Idiot Facepalm GIFGiphy"Donating to rich Twitch streamers. I’ll probably never understand why people do it."
dring157
"I remember watching one guy drop $60k to Ninja. I was making 30k a year at the time, this guy drop double my salary in one stream."
IanFPS
Adulting
"Credit Card interest."
DweeblesX
"When I first go a credit card I used it only when I was short on cash, but it ended up me throwing money at stupid things because I knew I had a credit card to fall back on if I needed it."
"Now I use my card for the points, and I pay it off about every two weeks. While I'm still not great at adulting, at least I figured out this part."
boardmonkey
What about Florida?
"The $50 scratch-off lottery tickets you can buy in Iowa."
notthesedays
"I used to work for the VA lottery. I got to see the numbers, the payout was only about 20% (if that) of profit for scratch-offs. Slightly higher for the draw games. But print-n-play was almost 1-1 for payout vs profit. Don't know how it is now or how other state's payout margins are, but print-n-play is where it's at if you're gonna play anything."
DarthWeabu
Always Upgrade
adopt for sale GIF by Boomerang OfficialGiphy"Buying cheap crap you have to replace."
coinkeeper8
"My dad once told me to not spend excessive money on tools at first. Buy them for dirt cheap, and learn which tools you really need. And when they break: replace them with quality ones. Buying pro-grade stuff you don't need is wasted money."
.HarlequinSyndrom
Spending a little extra can go a long way.
Cheap doesn't often equal quality.
Flex
Costume Clothes GIF by Big Brother AustraliaGiphy"Buying ridiculously expensive clothes to flex."
PinkLemon4
"Clothes are a two-way issue. Good clothes last a long time and the price is worth it for the comfort on top of that. But some clothes are 100x the price and 1/10th the quality. So there is a fine line here."
Wdrussell1
Pay to Lose
"Pay to win games."
testthrowawayzz
"I played a lot of mobile games with in-game currencies. I have never spent a cent on these games. Why would I spend hundreds of dollars if I can enjoy the game and learn how to play even if it's slow? And many items don't even help you at the game. It's just skins or titles that only show other players how stupid you were to pay for a free app."
Pintermarc
And Silver?
"Gold Food, or more accurately food that is covered in something called gold leaf. In my eyes, food is worth buying if they provide a great amount of nutrition for considerably good prices. After all, you probably avoid paying 50 million dollars just to buy a few molecules that are useless to your health and needs."
"And then there's gold leaf food, sure the food looks fancy but at the cost of a ludicrous amount of money! And with the gold having no usable nutrients at all, it is just not worth it to buy such expensive food for a relatively small amount of nutrients."
"For instance, Industry Kitchen (hopefully that's the name of the place) in NYC serves a pizza with a gold leaf covering for a whopping price of $2000. While at my home country which is Indonesia, Domino's serves an American Classic Cheeseburger Pizza (IDK that's a thing) which is the most expensive pizza I could find on the website costs around $7 which is just baffling to me."
ScopeRicrit
Pretty Boom
"Fireworks, I love them, but it's like $50 per second for the good ones."
endisnigh-ish
"Yeah, I end up spending probably $300 each summer buying fountains and batteries and helicopters and cardboard tanks and sh*t--none of the big professional skyrockets. It's absurd, I'll be the first to admit."
"But it's fun!"
-RadarRanger-
Just Elope
"Weddings."
"Crazy expensive day. Guaranteed at least one relative will kick up a stink. Massive pressure to be The Happiest Day of Your Life. Everything doubles in cost if you say it's for a wedding (dress, suit, cake, venue) Just do the quick registry office paperwork, have a surprise party, and run away for a long honeymoon with the money you saved."
PinchAssault52
Roll of the Dice
Card Game Poker GIFGiphy"Gambling for sure."
snazyfragz
"I live in a small town where a casino is the big attraction They've had numerous people crap and pee themselves because they didn't wanna get up from the slots because 'it's just about to pay out.'"
11BREWER
Gambling is the greatest way to lose money.
Addiction will take everything if you let it.