Top 3 best gifts given and received:
1. Paint-your-own mug covered with all of the phrases and songs and memories that still make my sister and I crack up.
2. A donation to a charity made in the name of the 'don't buy me anything!' recipient.
3. A photo album of pictures from a tour of a submarine that my father served on in the war, and is now a museum.

I brought my first child home 19 years ago on Christmas Day & that is the best Christmas gift I ever got.

My grandpa passed away in February of 2005. He was a very special man, one with a smile that could light up a room and the most positive attitude of anyone I have ever met. His birthday was on Christmas Eve, and we knew our first Christmas without him would be especially tough, as it symbolized the first time we celebrated both events without him.

After all the other presents were open, my grandma announced there were a few more special gifts she wanted to pass out, and she and my aunt went to another room to retrieve a mysterious brown paper bag for each of grandpa's children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. One by one we opened the bags to find a teddy bear made from one of grandpa's favorite shirts, each one personalized with a note from grandma explaining why she chose each shirt for each person. There wasn't a dry eye in the room as we all took time to remember what a wonderful person our grandpa had been. It was a perfect way to honor his memory on that first Christmas without him, and a lasting reminder I look at every day.

My husband, then boyfriend, bought me a ring with a emerald stone in it which doesn't seem like a big deal BUT we had both just graduated from college and didn't have jobs. He took his entire unemployment check of $130 and found me a beautiful ring at a local jeweler. He sacrified groceries that week to buy me a very special gift that I wear every day. He wonders why he has been my husband for over 12 years!

The evening before my daughter got married she gave my husband and I a gift. She said to open it in our own room. The gift was a small heart box made of leather. Inside she had written us note of thanks. Like I love you both. Thank you for being such loving parents. Thank you for changing my diapers. Thank you for comming at 1:00am and picking me up from the sleep over. Thank you for teaching me how to ride a bike. Thanks for all your hugs and kisses. She really put alot of thought into it as she had over 100 notes in this box. It was the most thoughtful and loving thing she could have done for us. We both sat and cryed reading them.

My boyfriend created a photo book full of pictures of two teddy bears. The bears were positioned in ways that showed our dating history, complete with props and captions. In the final photo, one bear is on bended knee proposing to the other bear. I said yes and have appreciated his sense of creativity ever since.

Amy Jones
Anchorage, Alaska

When my husband and I married 32 yrs ago we only received a salad plate and a cup and saucer of our fine china. Last year my 30 year old daughter found pieces to my china on ebay and began purchasing them throughout the year. She gave me an 8 place setting for Christmas. What a wonderful surprise!

The best gift that I ever received is a piano given to me by a friend of a friend. Ever since I had children (twins), I’ve always wanted my children to learn to play the piano and sit back and enjoy the smiles and songs they will attempt to play. I remember, when I was a little girl, I knew it brought a lot of smiles and happiness to my mother’s eyes when I played for her. Having received this wonderful instrument from a friend who happened to know someone who was looking for a good home for her piano that belonged in her family, I thought that my dreams have come true. There are things in life worth enduring and it is with a piece of instrument that brings out all the happiness and little moments like your children playing the piano for you that makes my life very meaningful and special.
M. Sinnott
Littleton, CO

My grandmother had passed away a few years prior to the birth of my first child, so imagine my surprise at receiving a gift "from" her at my baby shower! My aunt had seen a hooked rug my grandmother was making, obviously for a baby's nursery. When she asked who she was making it for, she said she wasn't sure, but felt someone would need it soon. After her death, upon hearing the news of my pregnancy, my aunt retrieved the nearly finished rug, and completed it, presenting it to me with a card signed with both her name and my grandmother's. The whole room was in tears, and I cherish it still.

When I was eight my Mother made me a velvet dark green and black checked bolaro jacket and skirt. She also made one for my doll. It was such a wonderful and unexpected gift.

Christmas Eve at midnight every year I'm reminded of the greatest gift I've ever recieved. (And it came with attachments.) That was the night my minister friend made his way through the snow to my house after his Christmas Eve service 180 miles away just so he could be the one to perform another Christmas Eve service.

You see, before he moved away he had been the pastor of my church and had been a major support in my surviving a horrible marriage. The gift of my minister's friendship was only part of that wonderful Christmas Eve for he had come to join a wonderful man and myself in holy matrimony.

The gift was love, a wedding and a ring. Now, 37 years later we're still in love and enjoying those 'attachments; we each had a son and a daughter. We are so alike our girls even have the same names so we've always called one Tonya and the other, Tonny.

Through good years and lean, love has been the gift that keeps on giving.

I remember Christmas 1983 when the Cabbage Patch Kids craze was at its peak. There were none to be had in any of the stores, and people were selling them for exhorbitant sums in the papers (this was, of course, before the days of ebay). I never imagined that I would be the lucky "parent" of one of these dolls, especially since money was very tight at home. We shopped religiously at sales and discount stores for everything we needed, from food to clothing. Toys were an extravagance that we could not accommodate. However, I remember waking up and opening presents on Christmas morning... One of the presents under our tree was indeed a Cabbage Patch Kid -- just for me. I immediately named her Marie. Her red hair and pretty green dress made me smile, and so proud to be among the few who had one of these "unique" dolls. I felt as though I finally fit in with my classmates who always had the latest toys and outfits, rather than the lonely bystander. What a wonderful Christmas present for an 8 year old to receive!

It was quite some time later before I found out the extent to which my father went in order to secure Marie for me. Apparently, there was an advertisement in the local paper saying that one store had 50 dolls that they would sell one per customer on a first-come, first-served basis as of store opening on a certain day. My father took the day off work (which we could ill-afford since money was scarce) and lined up at 4am in order to make sure he was able to be one of those 50 lucky people. He was, and I wonder if he realized at the time how much it meant to me to have that doll. I guess he did, and even to this day, I'm still amazed at how strong and powerful a parent's love can be for their child.

When I was a child with three younger sisters we were dirt poor. My father was a construction worker and work is very slow in the winter. We could barely afford food and shelter so things looked pretty bleak for Christmas.
Christmas morning arrived. Suprise! Santa did come. I was amazed, ( by age ten I'd figured out the Santa question)
We later discovered Mother had pawned her wedding rings. Such is the love of parents for their children.
Mother never got her rings back and we children never forgot her love and sacrifice. Years later when we were grown, we got together and bought her new wedding rings for Christmas.
Such is the love of children for their parents.

On December 2, 1971, I received the most wonderful birthday present of all, my daughter, Anne Elizabeth, who arrived a week early.

My then husband was hospitalized the Christmas of 1985. I had taken our two small children (ages 3 and 6) up to the hospital to see him. We lived an hour from the hospital. They were hungry, so I took them to the hospital cafeteria to feed them. Unfortunately I did not have enough money to pay for their meal. The cashier saw my plight and rang the food up for the amount that I had. It was such a small gesture, but a huge gift to me and my family at the time on that Christmas night and I have never forgotten his generosity.

When I turned 16, my aunt, who is 10 years older than me gave me my very first ring. She told me someone had given it to her when she turned 16. My sister, who is 10 years younger than me, turned 16 this year. I plan on giving her the ring this Christmas and I hope that the tradition will continue.

Years ago, I was a school bus driver for tiny tots.
Parents of kids that I drove to school, gave me all kinds of gifts from home made cookies to coffee mugs and envelopes stuffed with money to woolen caps and mitts. But, one mother of a kid on my bus gave me a small beautiful doll of an Angel that she made out of wire & beads, with a note saying that "you are our Angel who drives my child safely to school and back home - now here I am giving you an Angel to protect you and keep you safe during the holidays and coming New Year" - That was a very touching and meaningful gift that I ever got.

The most meaningful gift I ever got was a picture called "Family Tree" by Charles Peterson. It was given to me by my husband in 1999. What makes it so special is that I had recently started working on our own family tree. It was also 7 days after my sister passed away from a car accident, as well as the year my mother had a stroke. So many things in the picture reminded me of the home my Grandparents lived in, and my sister's and my lives as children together. It was like our own Christmas's past.
It touched my heart, and every day I look at it and brings back so many memories--the happy and sad, and realize that Christmas is just that--one big "Family Tree" for people all over the world.

I was about two months prenant and when I went to leave work my car wouldn't start. My husband had to come and pick me up from work in his car. We were about half way home and then his car broke down as well! We were tired and cold and now we had no transportation. We didn't have a cell phone and had to walk 1/2 to a convenient store to call my in laws. Two hours later, we made it home exhausted and worried about our cars. My husband went out to check the mail and inside was a package from my Great Aunt Leona that I haven't seen or heard from in over 10 years. She had sent me a little "Bluebird of Happiness" with a letter telling me she was thinking of me and wanted me to have a little happiness from her. I sat down and cried, which may have been all the hormones, but it was such a sweet surprise to the end of a terrible day. Now, 13 years later, I still have the little blue bird. Whenever I feel like I'm having a terrible day I get it off the shelf and hold it. It truly brings me happiness!

Shortly after my grandmother had a major stroke, a friend of mine sent a birthday gift to me in the mail. It was a scrapbook she had created for me with pages full of quotes and cute paper about grandmothers and family. It was all ready for me to insert pictures. A few weeks later while visiting my family, my mother and I had a wonderful time collecting and assembling the pictures for the scrapbook. Three years later, I still look at the scrapbook on a weekly basis.

Our first Christmas Eve, my husband and I were in the emergency room. Pregnant with our first child, something had gone very wrong. Quick thinking and many long-distance phone calls to my ob saved my life and that of our son.
My most precious gift--the life of our son.

It was placed in my stocking; a powder blue envelope with silver script. Inside, an invitation for a shopping day together. We began our morning at the local coffee shop; a breakfast of warm cinnamon rolls, coffee and orange juice. From there we spent the morning exploring quaint antique and jewelry shops in smaller towns nearby. One town's antique and gift shoppe held a small lunch room. We feasted on warm soups and breads, a crisp salad and iced tea. We next headed back towards home, to downtown Springfield, IL. No mall-crawl today! We visited all the fun, funky and artsy shoppes; finishing with a manicure (appointment pre-arranged) at a salon. While waiting for the polish to set; we stopped at a tea room for hot tea and a shared dessert. With the winter sun setting; we headed home.

A year and a half later; my mother was gone. The cancer that claimed her, was probably with us that day. Among the things she left for me and with me, was this day together; the scents, the warmth, the laughter, all wrapped up in a powder blue envelope with silver script.

My 2 year old son's handprints done with red paint on plain paper framed with the date handwritten by my husband. I can always remember how little he was. I love to hold his hand and this is so special to me.

Most currently meaningful gift is a girlfriend called out of the blue, to tell me she just went through her closet and wanted to give me some clothes. Some stuff she doesn't wear any longer and some she never wore. Well it started a shower of blessings ... three other girlfriends have done the same. Answer to prayers when I can't afford to buy any, and usually it's the boys that get all the handme downs. I was most grateful and gave me a burst of confidence having a new wardrobe.