My Dad bought me a brand new Jeep Wrangler when I was 17, but the real gift was what he taught me about life by way of this car. Every month, on the first of the month, I was required to pay him $150 if I wanted to continue driving my Jeep. If I didn’t pay, I couldn’t drive my car (or “his car”, as he often reminded me, since he owned the title). My Dad was (and still is) a successful businessman, who makes a very decent living. To a 17-year old working part-time in High School, $150 was more than I usually had in my bank account, and I often struggled with the prospect of handing over $150 when the time came to pay the piper. Although it was often done begrudgingly and with much complaining, I always made sure to have $150 in his hand on the first of the month, and did so for 2 years.

The day I graduated High School, my Dad pulled me into his office at our house, and sat me down for a little chat. “Kevin” he said, extending his arm to give me a white, sealed envelope, “here is your graduation present. Although to be fair, this is technically a present from yourself.” I opened the envelope with caution, and almost started crying when I realized he just gave me $3,600 in cash, or the equivalent of 24 car payments that he had been saving for the last 2 years. Every payment I gave him went straight into this envelope, to be opened upon my graduation. By forcing me to pay him every month, he was teaching me how to save, how to manage my money, how to find and hold a job, how to be responsible. My Dad is and will forever be the best man I have ever known.

Edit: He gave me the title for the Jeep 4 years later, as my college graduation present :)

Edit #2: 20,000+ upvotes?! I’m humbled by the response and appreciate everyone’s kind words…thank you all!

Edit #3: 35,000 upvotes and counting!!!

The best gift I ever received was from my father about 15 years ago. After our family opened all our holiday presents indoors, he asked me to follow him outdoors for one last gift. What could it be I thought? A horse, a new car, a riding lawnmower? Very unrealistic, but a girl can dream! No, it was a small spindly branch sticking out of the muddy garden earth with a pitiful red ribbon wrapped around it. He responded to my confused look with a big grin, “it’s a pomegranate tree!”

He knew it was my favorite food-I’d spend a fortune every fall purchasing them from the stores, then spend hours picking them apart. I lived in Oregon and he knew they would never grow there, but they thrived in the hot weather of California. So he planted it in his garden, just for me! After that, I would make a special trip down every fall for our pomegranate harvest.

He died 5 years ago, but the tree still thrives. I picked more than 300 this year-it's mid-January and I still have a few left. I think of every one as a gift from my father.

When I was a kid, my grandmother always dragged me along with her to the store every single Saturday.

Some of you may be familiar with the stamp program that many grocery stores put in place to attract loyal customers. Basically, if you spend so much money at the store then you can get so many stamps to use to “buy” specialty items. (So let’s say you spend $50 in the store, you could get 5 stamps toward your specialty purchase).

The specialty item at Kroger in 1993 in small town Arkansas happened to be the Blue Willow china set. Come hell or high water, my grandmother was determined to get a 16-piece place set.

My grandmother worked in a factory all of her adult life and she only earned about $300 a week. She didn’t have much extra money after regular bills, but determination does funny things to people. She always made sure that she spent enough money on groceries to add at least one piece of china to her collection.

For a year, I went with my grandmother to the store week after week and I slowly watched her collection grow until she got the entire set (with a few additional dishes to boot!). For years, the collection was displayed proudly in her home. I remember vividly helping her wash the dishes from time to time and placing them on her table for special occasions (to celebrate birthdays, marriages, holidays, and so on.)

Fast forward a few years later, I am now married with a family of my own. A couple of summers ago, I was helping my grandmother go through her things to donate or store. She is getting older and simpler living is attractive to her.

I pulled down her dishes to wash them, just like I had helped her do countless times over the years.

Her: Put those in here when you are done.

Me: Oh, you aren’t putting these in storage are you?

Her: No, you are taking them home with you.

I didn’t know what to say.I guess she could see me processing all of that because she added:

These dishes have seen their fair share of good times haven’t they? I want you to have them because I know you will make sure that they see more. Some of them will crack and break..and you might cry and cuss a little, but I want you to have them. That’s been the plan all along.

I have never been more touched in my entire life. It wasn’t about the china. Truth be told, I already had a pretty nice set I received as a wedding gift from my in-laws years ago. But, I know the sacrifices she made to get them. I know the pride she has for them. I know the memories that they carry. I know when she is gone and the china remains, that I’ll always look at them, think of her, and smile.

And that is by far the sweetest gift in the entire world.

My sister-in-law already had two of the nicest children one could imagine when she announced that she was expecting a third child.

Then one summer afternoon at a family gathering she asked us to gather around after we had finished our bar-b-que and were getting ready to start our usual flag football game. We had all been telling her how we were looking forward to holding and loving her new baby.

She looked somber as she told us that the sonogram a few days before indicated that her baby, a little girl, was having severe difficulties. The bands that normally drop away during a baby’s development didn’t and were causing her little girl to have circulation problems and threatened to deform her legs. The doctor sadly told my sister-in-law the facts and recommended that she abort the her little girl. He said the baby would be born with a severely deformed leg that would have to be amputated and the odds were very good that she would never have full mental capacity and would likely be a vegetable for her entire life.

My sister-in-law did not cry as she told us quietly gathered around her. We were all crying. It was so sad. Then she quietly said, “I am not going to kill my daughter.” She gave us all a gift that day and gave her daughter the gift of life.

That daughter, a pretty young woman, is engaged now and will be married in October to a nice man who is missing a leg as well. She is graduated from college and now works in a business that manufactures prosthetics. She is the best gift my sister-in-law ever gave all of us.

A Lifting of Death Sentence

A middle aged, Canadian man walked to a hospital in Hamilton, complaining of a little discomfort in his chest. After several tests, the doctor's report hit him like a thunderbolt: "Sir, I'm sorry to inform you, that you have stage 4 lung cancer." When he enquired how much time he had left, he was told he had a maximum of 12 months left. A second hospital confirmed the results.

Just before he began chemotherapy, he decided to seek one last opinion. The third hospital disputed the results, showing it was a fairly easily treatable lung disease and not cancer. He raised the issue with the previous hospitals and, after more testing and consultation, the 2 hospitals admitted they were wrong.

His death sentence has been unanimously lifted. I guess that's the best gift he has ever received.

The best compliment I ever received was in regard to a gift that I gave, so maybe that gift was the one.

In 2004 my folks had a house fire. No one was hurt, but many cherished family heirlooms and such were gone forever (they were stored in the garage where the fire started). Very sad, some things cannot be replaced. Also lost were my mom's pantry items, including her recipe files.

So the first Christmas after the fire, I'd gone online and found some of the original cookbooks she'd lost. Cost me nearly nothing (thanks, half.com), but mom was overjoyed--some of these cookbooks dated to the 1960s, but I remembered growing up with them and they were easy to find.

It happened that also lost were the recipes for a collection of Christmas cookies, and being Christmas it came up. They, mom told me, were from an insert in a 2 lb bag of Gold Medal brand flour that she tried out, and we all liked them so she kept making them and they were our family tradition cookies.

I figured them to be lost forever, but got to thinking about them that next summer, and since General Mills had an email address for customer inquires, I inquired. I wrote that they were from around 1972, and were called “A World of Cookies”, and included a basic dough recipe and two recipes I could remember the names for were Norwegian Wreaths and English Toffee Bars.

And I didn't get any reply, Christmas 2005 came and went. I'd forgotten I'd even inquired by February 2006, when I got a phone call at work, from someone at General Mills.

She'd been moved by my request and story, and by God and I still don't know how, she'd found them. She promptly sent them to me in an email. Which I promptly forwarded to my mom, with the subject, “Merry Christmas, give or take a few months.”

She called a little while later just bawling her eyes out. To this day, the best compliment I have ever received was, “Russ, you didn't give me a gift, you gave me back a memory.”

That got me crying a little bit, too, because I certainly had memories of making those cookies in my youth.

So maybe the best gift you can give is a memory. It certainly was for mom.

The best gift I ever got was from my dad on the day he died. You could say it was actually an exhange of gifts.

We are not a touchy, feely family. No hugs and kisses. No overt expressions of our feelings. However, the love was there, shown in many different ways. (Sorry, Harry, that is just the way it is for a lot of families, even if they are not royal).

In 2020 dad had to go into hospital with an infection. Due to covid restrictions we could not visit him, except to drop off treats and things that he needed at reception. He eventually recovered from the infection, but being ninety-two they were doing lots of tests on him for his other long term issues. After ten days I rang for an update to be told they were doing one final test on him before coming home. So, I rang him much earlier than normal and we chatted a bit and laughed about how many treats I had taken him the night before. Then we were signing off and I impulsively said “we all love you” and he said “I love you all too”.

It was the last thing he ever said to us.

He passed the test but on the way back to his ward his heart suddenly stopped, and they couldn’t get him back.

God allowed us that final gift of love in exchange for receiving a wonderful man.

God Will Never Give What You Want, God Will Always Give What Is Best For You.

Exactly one year back, I was searching for a job in Bangalore. It was almost 6 months since I had completed my graduation. I was Jobless.

It was Mahashivratri that day, I was crying in my room. Asking God, “What have you planned for me? Why aren’t you listening my prayers? “

I was chanting “Om Namah Shivay” without having food and water. Tears were rolling from my eyes.

At 2 PM my phone beeped, I received a mail.

Offer Letter Of Capgemini.

My prayers didn’t go vain. God Always Listens.

That’s The Best Gift I Ever Received From God.

Trust God, Even If You Don’t Trust Yourself!

Edit 1: My first answer to cross 500 upvotes.. Thank you everyone :)

Edit 2: Thank you for 800+ upvotes..!!

Back in January 1999, I took a trip to Spain to visit my friend. One week later, I met this guy, who was a friend of another friend, and we kept going out on weekends together as a group. We got along really well.

Remember, I was just a tourist and getting ready to leave soon. Then one day he shows up with a night table. I had mentioned to him that I didn’t have a night table in my friend’s spare bedroom. Not that it mattered to me at all!

He was a cabinet maker, and he had made the night table for me. The best part of this gift was that it was built so that it was easy to take apart using a simple screwdriver. He had used cam locks or locking screws. He told me he made it that way so that I could take it home with me when I left. I was amazed!

Then things started to get interesting. We were smitten and head-over-heels in love. He told me he had another gift for me, but that it wouldn’t make any sense. He brought me a framed group of tiles called an Auca del Cava, a typical form of Catalan art. Example: Ceràmiques Bensu Auca del cava

On the last ceramic tile there was a painting of a bottle of cava (sparkling wine from Catalonia), which bore my last name. Under it, were the words, “Esperando que no olvides a los amigos que dejas en Catalunya. Con cariño.” (Hoping you never forget the friends you leave behind in Catalunya. With love.) He had made the frame and gotten his friend to paint the tiles for me!

Of course it didn’t make sense anymore because I wasn’t leaving!

After five years of living in Catalonia, we both left together and are now living in the United States. That ceramic painting hangs next to our front door and it reminds me every day of his love and the friends that we left. It makes perfect sense now!

I’ve been happily married for almost 19 years and we have two beautiful daughters.

Edit: punctuation

Edit2: My husband says he is still a cabinet-maker. (I said, “He was”). So now you know!

For years, I had hinted to my husband and kids that for some milestone birthday I would like for them to arrange for me to pet a tiger or other big cat—preferably a baby one, and of course one that wasn’t being mistreated or drugged (I’ve heard of some places in Thailand that drug and mistreat tigers and use them as a tourist attraction.) Husband said he looked into it but couldn’t find anyplace to accomplish this. Finally, for my 50th birthday last year, my youngest daughter used her tax refund to take me to Puerto Vallarta for three days, where we visited the zoo and she had arranged for what they call the “cub experience.” We got to hold a lemur, then I got to pet a young tiger (technically a cub, but about half-grown), which playfully “mauled” me a bit, and then I got to hold a tiny baby jaguar! It was so incredible and so thoughtful and I was so impressed with my beautiful daughter. Then she also took me out to a very fancy restaurant in a magical garden setting and there was champagne and it was just amazing.

My current employer, Copado decided to give out an amount of Rs 37,000 to all its Indian employees as Christmas gift reimbursement. We had a restriction on the things that we could buy as it somehow had to be related to office work or our productivity but 37 thousand is a lot of money for me to shower myself with Christmas presents.

Here is the list of things that I have opted for:

1. Under Desk Bike.

Working in IT can be very hectic and is often linked with ergonomic disorders. Lockdown has really taken a toll on our body since we have cut down on your walking or physical exercise by a large extent. Hence I decided to order this under desk bike which I can use to exercise while I am working. I already have a treadmill at home but I hardly get time to run on it but this one will help me exercise even while working. So this one is indeed one great exercise equipment!

Cost of this equipment: Rs 1,988
Budget Remaining: Rs 35,012

2. Laptop Bag.

Although the Macbook that my office gave me was 13 inches, I bought a bag that would accommodate a laptop of 17.3 inches because that was what my personal laptop was. Unfortunately while buying my laptop, they didn’t have a laptop bag of that size so this one now will serve the purpose very well!

Cost of this bag: Rs 1,602
Budget Remaining: Rs 33,410

3. Reusable Notebook.

I gifted this to my dad since he requires to take down important stuff on a notebook at the office. This one would not just help him with his work but provide a cool, swag factor among his colleagues. With the help of this notebook that comes with 100 pages, one can write important things on this and then when required and later wipe it off too. The pages are waterproof and tear-resistant. On one side you can plan your day hour-wise while on the other page you can add important notes and later on, wipe it clean.

Cost of this notebook: Rs 999
Budget Remaining: Rs 32,411

4. Ergonomic Chair.

I just got an ergonomic chair as a gift last quarter but I decided to take one more for the family. I set it up by myself which was pretty easy watching Youtube videos and this is so comforting to sit on!

Cost of this chair: Rs 3,490
Budget Remaining: Rs 28,921

5. Office Desk.

Was meant for office use but will be using this one for family use. Till now after bringing groceries, we used to keep them on the floor for sanitizing. Now we will probably be keeping them on this table. It is basically meant to serve multiple purposes.

Cost of this desk: Rs 2,089
Budget Remaining: Rs 26,832

6. Earbuds.

Gifted this pair of Boat earbuds to my brother. Not just that the sound quality is brilliant but the noise cancellation is top-notch. Looks pretty cool than wired earphones or those wireless ones. But yes, one needs to be careful not to lose either of them.

Cost of this earbuds: Rs 1,299
Budget Remaining: Rs 25,533

7. Laptop Stand.

My brother is having his online classes and I thought this could be a good thing for him to use. It is wide enough to accommodate his notebook and stationery items besides the laptop and comes with extra space to accommodate an external keyboard and a mouse.

Cost of this laptop stand: Rs 849
Budget Remaining: Rs 24,684

8. Keyboard and Mouse.

Looked cool, took it. The RGB colours give it a nice funky look to it. I am already using an Apple keyboard so I plan to keep this on standby for the time being. Also, it comes with a gaming mouse that I opted for which looks pretty cool. With this mouse, I now have three mice at my home. This one will be a standby mouse in case of emergencies.

Cost of this keyboard and mouse combo: Rs 1,299
Budget Remaining: Rs 23,385

9. Headset.

My employer already gifted me a pair of headphones but I decided to keep another one for standby. This cool pair of headsets was just what I needed. So in case, my current earphones stop working, I can turn back to this one!

Cost of this headset Rs 639
Budget Remaining: Rs 22,746

…And saving the best for the last!

10. Tablet.

This is Acer One 10″ tablet and I gifted this to my mother on New Year’s Eve. She mostly spends the afternoons watching movies or YouTube videos, sometimes she reads an e-book too. So I thought of gifting her a tablet which will provide better readability and nicer experience watching videos. And as expected, she absolutely loves it.

Cost of this tablet: Rs 17,990
Budget Remaining: Rs 4,756

Also, Donation.

My Christmas was going great, better than I could ever imagine. With all these gadgets, I was getting a little spoilt. We had a funding campaign organized by my office and I decided to donate $50 on my behalf which would be deducted from this Holiday budget by my company. This contribution would be going for St. Martin’s School at Kenya and I am kinda proud of this too. My Christmas has been great and I am glad I could contribute to making somebody else’s Christmas merry too!

Donation amount: $50 ~ Rs 3,750
Budget Remaining: Rs 1,006

I decided not to use the remaining 1,006 rupees since I was already having more than I wanted or could wish for! This has to be my best Christmas gift till date and I am really thankful to my stars for getting into such a wonderful and employee-friendly organization and be a part of the team! And this year, Christmas has been indeed Merry!

In her book "3000 Stitches," Sudha Murty shares a touching story about helping a group of women known as Devadasis. These women were once temple dancers but often faced a lot of hardship and unfair treatment.

Sudha Murty felt deeply for their struggles and decided to help them by providing education and job training. Because of her help, many of these women were able to leave behind their difficult pasts and start new, better lives.

In gratitude for her kindness, the Devadasis wanted to give Sudha Murty a special gift. The 3,000 women came together and made a beautiful quilt with 3,000 stitches. Each stitch was a symbol of their thanks and hope for the future. This quilt wasn't just a piece of cloth,it was a heartfelt message of their transformation and appreciation.

Receiving the quilt was one of the most moving moments in Sudha Murty's life. It showed how powerful kindness and support can be, changing lives and bringing new hope. This story is a beautiful reminder of how one person’s empathy and actions can make a big difference in the world.

I think,this is the best gift one could ever receive.

Here are few lines from the book:

Thank you :)

This is a weirdly nice gift which I received virtually. I must say it's more like a wish than a gift. My college sends me and my parents message saying that I used to miss my class pretty often and it became a habit.

On one particular occasion I once got a message which actually made me smile.I am not sure how many of these colleges do it but this one surely made me smile and of course laugh about it.

It's funny but these little things matter.

http://www.bnmit.org

Afghan boy who had plastic bag Messi shirt

• meets his idol
• got the autographed Messi Shirt from his Idol

He is Murtaza Ahmadi, who became an internet sensation when his pictures wearing a white and blue Messi-tshirt made of plastic surfaced on the internet.

The pictures went viral and, after Messi’s biggest fan was identified and tracked down to Afghanistan’s eastern Ghazni province, efforts were made to bring Murtaza and the Barcelona star together.

Murtaza and Messi met in Doha but he also got to walk out on to the pitch alongside Messi on Tuesday night, when Barcelona played Al Ahli in Dohar.

I think this was the biggest gift for this hardcore Messi Fan.

Source:Afghan boy who had plastic bag Messi shirt meets his idol

The boy with the plastic bag Messi jersey gets a once-in-a-lifetime experience

My grandparents have always been a very large part of my life. I was at their house for a big part of my childhood since they would look after me and my brother after school. For that reason, I have wanted them to stay alive and still be a part of my life forever. When I would graduate, meet the love of my life, get married, have children. I wanted my children to know my grandparents, because they are such wonderful, selfless people. However, we all know that we are not immortal.

The best gift somebody has ever received was a gift my grandmother gave me. It was Christmas and there were a lot of presents under the tree. My grandmother proudly gave me one to open. When I opened the gift, I was significantly surprised, since it contained two pairs of knitted baby socks. At first I had to grin a little. What did she know that I didn’t?

She told me that her hands were starting to hurt. That she was growing older and older every day. That she was not sure she would be able to knit for much longer. She wanted my children to have something that was made by her.

Currently, my grandparents are still in my life, aged 90 and 85 years old. I am very lucky. My grandmother cannot knit any longer due to her dementia; she forgot how to do it.

I have the socks in a small box in the back of my closet and I cannot wait to put them on the little feet of my future children. They will always remind me of them.

This gift is the best one I have ever received.

My first salary was in my 2nd Std. I had written a Play(drama) and received Rs. 50 from school. That time it was a huge amount, huh! I wanted to buy something for my fav human, obviously. Dad was a playwright too. But, he was very choosy about his pens. So, I wasn't very sure what to gift him, considering the amount I had in hand.

My second fav human came to my rescue. She advised me to keep at least 20% of that amount in my jugaad piggy bank l(that was my first lesson about saving which I still follow)

So, I had Rs. 40 in hand. I bought a pen for dad worth Rs.25. I bought mom a red pen too (she was a professor/reader. I had seen her correct answer sheets with red pen). I still had Rs.5 or 7 left which I used to buy my sister a chocolate. Mission accomplished.

Dad was on cloud 9 to see that gesture of mine!! He scribbled on a piece of paper with his new pen. But…unfortunately, that pen was a use-and-throw pen. My face shrunk when I came to know that. Dad promised me that he'll use it less often, only for the most important things, so that it lasted long.

During my 11th Std, one inauspicious day, when dad realized that he was going to breathe his last, he asked mom to hand him over a few sheets of blank paper to sign. Coincidently, the pen my mom could pick up from dad's pen-holder was the same pen I had gifted him 9 years ago. He signed on the blank papers and told mom to keep those very carefully and if he didn't make it, and his office needed help, she'd give those papers only to that one person he trusted. (Dad was Director of All India Radio that time). He lived for another 3–4 hrs after that. He had cancer.

That pen is still there. Still in a working condition, even after 15 yrs of not being touched by him. Not everything lasts forever, some perish much before time. :)

I received the best gift of my life, Friday, May 19, 1967. The backstory was that a year earlier I had at an age-appropriate 19, told my parents that I didn’t want their fucking money. I had refused use of the car they had provided and taken the bus or hitch hiked to the university. I got a job on Capitol Hill on Tuesday and Thursday to pay expenses, scheduling my courses on MWF.

My father was about to turn in for the night. He told me that despite our differences he was proud of the self-reliance and initiative I had shown. The next morning, before I awoke, he died of a massive heart attack on the first tee at the golf course. His parting words time were the best gift anyone has ever given me, and, not knowing what day is my last, I take every opportunity to tell my children how proud I am of them.

" Before that I would like to present you with the gift that you want!", I replied to Maa when she asked me that I wanted on my 15th birthday.

Maa: "Okay . I have nothing to ask for. Give me some options. "

Me: " I promise you to bring 100 percentage in Maths paper. Will you be satisfied with that?" (I had my secondary board exam after two months )

My mother broke into laughter. " Of course, even I will be over-satisfied!"
( Because I was too weak in mathematics. And it was quite impossible. )

Me: "Yes! I knew that! But I am going to ask for something which is costly. "

Mother: "I also knew that you need some costly thing . Otherwise you would not have taken so much risk! But what do you need actually?"

Me: "A computer. " (I hesitated before saying it. It would be too difficult for my parents to buy me computer because our financial condition was not too good.)

But my mother smiled . She agreed and promised to buy me a computer as early as possible. She did not even ask me the reason of buying computer.

I was confident that I would score hundred percent.

"Maa , I am not able to stand up! ", I shouted two days before of my exam. I was taken to the hospital. They assured that I would be able to stand up within two days. I was prescribed some medications. I was feeling drowsy! I used to sleep for 18 hours per day because of those strong medications. They wanted me get well as soon as possible. Everybody suggested to drop the examination that year and to wait for the next year. But I could not forget the smiling face of her.

"Maa , I will not take medicine today! I feel sleepy during examination. They are not relieving my pain at all. " , I told my mother one day before of my math examination. " I need my computer."

She smiled.

My mother kept her promise within 3 months of that incident as I had kept my promise too.

(My percentage of that exam was not too effective to give any better opportunities throughout my career. But I won the heart of my mother . And that is the best gift I have ever received in my life.)

Let me tell you about the best gift I have ever received.

I was nine years old.

My father was an alcoholic devil- and a mean one at that. He regularly beat my mother, and occasionally knocked my sister around just for exercise after a Friday night drinking binge. Oddly enough, he never laid a hand on me, either in anger or in love.

My paternal grandfather used to take my older fifteen year old sister to church with him every Sunday. She was clearly his favorite, and looking back, I can see that he enjoyed having his attractive grandaughter on his arm.

One Sunday morning, my grandmother suggested that my grandfather take both my sister AND me to church with him. That began a pattern in which I would go to church with them occasionally. It was a small country church in Flat Rock, MI.

The preacher usually fired off a frightening sermon of fire and brimstone; of the inheherent evil of people and their need to REPENT, OR GO STRAIGHT TO HELLFIRE!

Well, one Sunday, the preacher outdid himself, switching things up with a sermon on God’s grace and how we could all be forgiven by a merciful God through his son, Jesus.

I had an abrupt and unusual response to that sermon. Even though I was now only 10 years old, I felt like the preacher was speaking directly to me. Much to the embarrassment of my sister, I answered the alter call and gave my know-nothing, seen-nothing ten-year old life to God. Here I am at 64, and I still remember the power of God coming over me that day so long ago, filling me with peace and assurance.

Oh, I've fallen by the wayside many times with doubts and discouragement with life. And yet I have always felt God’s presence in my life, gently wooing me, calling me back to Him.

I know it's fashionable to dismiss such testimonies with a rolling of the eyes, attributing it to deluded thinking. I would tell you otherwise. Millions of other Christians, many of whom have paid for their faith with their very lives, would tell you otherwise( if only they could).

So, back to the best gift I ever received. Was it my grandmother interceding for me? My grandfather taking me to church? The preacher’s conversion sermon?

I believe that God is a great multi-tasker. He's a great artist and we are the medium he has chosen to work through.

The best gift I ever received is my faith in God, orchestrated by God Himself through many others.

At 26 I was a floundering, uneducated, single mother of one daughter. Luckily, I was always employed, but never anything over minimum wage. Finally I’d had enough and decided to quit work and go to college. To do so I went on welfare and food stamps. I didn’t feel too guilty, having paid into the system for 10 years. My daughter was four when I made this decision. When I decided to go to college, it was as if the whole universe moved with me to put a better life plan into play.

Within the first 4 months I met a teacher through a long time friend, who as also a teacher. Eventually we became a couple and he became devoted to my daughter, who had never had any support or interest from her biological father. He admired my effort to attend college, and especially that I started at 26. Not only was he a high school teacher, he had been a Rhodes Scholar, and became my mentor, and often my tutor.

While you might think this is the gift I was given, and indeed it was, it was only a hint of what was to come. His bother was also a teacher who had a special student in one of his classes. The brother and my boyfriend were routinely invited to dinner every Wednesday night at this student’s home by his parents. The dinners were jokingly referred to as “soirees,” where ideas were discussed.

Because I was really so very different in terms of my background, education, and in age, it was understood that I wouldn’t become part of this group, and yet I did continue to enjoy hearing about their discussions. I learned he woman was not only one of the first graduates of Yale Law School, but she was an heiress, a broker, and generally the very opposite of everything I was.

But, eventually she and I did meet and she immediately struck up a conversation with me, when she asked what book I was reading. I explained it was a film history book and told her I loved films, especially film noir. She stopped and asked me, “Do you know the real name of Cary Grant?”

“Yes, of course, it’s Archibald Leach.” She extended her hand and invited me to dinner the following Wednesday to discuss film! We eventually became very close and I began to think of her as the mother I didn’t have. Eventually I moved into their mansion with my daughter and continued to go to college. When I was accepted to GW University, she gave me an even bigger gift: She gave me a house in Georgetown. She put my daughter through private schools, I learned to pain in France, I traveled, and eventually my life became so interesting, even Oprah asked me to be on her show. (But that’s another story.)

It is now 40 years later and she has passed. When someone gives another person something so big, the implications and the expectations are mind boggling. I am reminded of the saying, “To whom much is given, much is expected.” I have worked all of those years to help people who started where I started. I founded a nonprofit organization that gave away over $44 million in goods to those in need, and established a homeless moving company paying twice the minimum wage to pick up deliver those goods. Yes, I did many other things, all aimed at helping people who had been as helpless as I once was. But the GIFT she gave to me made all of those things I did possible. It is the gift that changed my life and my daughter’s life. I used to think the gift was the house, the schools, the travel, the cars, but it was how much she believed in me…and Cary Grant.

This is the heartwarming moment an eight-year-old birthday girl was given the best present ever - her army officer father coming home after months on deployment.

Paloma had no idea her father Jesus Larios, 35, had come home and believed he was still on a mission fighting Somali pirates.

Jesus hid in a giant present box, which was lined with wrapping paper and placed in the middle of the kitchen.

Paloma is then given the box and gets help from her friends to unwrap the giant present.

When the lid pops open and she spots her father and immediately bursts into happy tears and jumps into his arms.

Jesus gives her a bear hug and pulls her into the box where she stays clinging onto him, crying into his shoulder and repeating the words 'Papa, my papa'

if you want to watch the video,here it is.

Soldier dad gives birthday girl daughter the best present | Daily Mail Online

Image source : Screen shot of video.

Long distance relationships are the hardest, my girl friend and I have been in one for over 2 years now. I came to the US to pursue my Master's degree and all hell broke loose at her place, Indian wedding drama and her being forced into marrying someone else. Our story is one you would see in the movies, the sad ones about the girl's parents opposing the relationship bla bla. 4 months after I came to the US (~Oct 2015) and all the drama happening at her place, I notice that there have been delivery attempts from USPS. I was going through the worst days of my life, juggling between a part time job, classes, and issues at my girlfriend's place. This meant I had to go to the post office which meant I had to walk a couple of miles and take a bus. I was so angry because I had to go all the way, I opened the package to find a card and a note from my girl friend.

This, is priceless.

I have never cried so badly in my life.

A roll of toilet paper…and an elf.

When you spend a lot of time in European campgrounds the first thing you learn is that toilet paper is a rare commodity. In most places it is just not provided. So I realized very quickly that I needed to always carry a few sheets in my pocket.

In 2017 we were in a campground in Cassino, Italy. One of the employees, Tomas, took a liking to Andy and I and when he had time he would hang out at our site.

The second evening he walked in carrying two gifts for us: a bottle of homemade wine and a new roll of toilet paper! Even though his campground had fully stocked toilets, he understood that we would be spending another 6 weeks in European campgrounds and that many of them would not provide tp in the bathhouses.

The bottle of wine was nice, but the roll of toilet paper was incredibly thoughtful and much appreciated.

Five weeks later we were in a campground in Manheim, Germany. The female manager, Rosi, was a lovely woman a few years younger than me. One day I admired a necklace she was wearing…a simple, yet beautiful silver elf hanging from a simple silver chain.

Rosi left the campground for a couple days, and the morning she came back she came over to our site, “knocked” on our tent and asked me to come out. When I did she handed me a jewelers box. Inside was a silver elf…identical to hers.

She told me she gave it to me so I would have “good memories of Germany” and think of her with “kind thoughts.”

I never take off my elf necklace. It is a constant reminder of a wonderful time in a wonderful country with an incredibly generous woman…Rosi!

Last year I had took English class and I was really mean and disrespectful to my teacher.

I often called her by her first name and caused problems in her class by throwing things at her while she was trying to teach. I never had anything against her - it was just that I had no one to vent to and I often took my emotions out on her.

When I saw her i felt she had everything and that she had such nice clothes and a better life than I had. I was very jealous of her and angry. I have been treating her like this all the way up until the beginning of cheerleading season.

I love cheerleading because it made me feel wanted and pretty. I had asked my mom if I could do cheerleading this year and she said yes but could only afford my uniform. I tried fitting into my old cheerleading sneakers but they were too small and beat up. I got my foot in and they were really unbearable and it hurt for me to jump. I begged my mom for new cheer sneakers and when she said she couldn't afford them I just started crying. I knew I couldn't cheer without them and I went to school angry and upset.

In English class when my teacher had asked me to throw away my gum, I decided to spit it on the desk. She was stunned that I did that and kicked me out of the class. When the end of the day came around I went through all the garbage in the gym and locker room looking to see if anybody had thrown their old sneakers out. I found one set of sneakers that weren't dirty but were 2 sizes smaller than I was. I started crying next to the trash can. When my English teacher saw me she sat down next to me and asked what was wrong.

I explained to her how my mom couldn't afford new sneakers for me and how I wouldn't be able to play cheerleading. She hugged me and said that she would buy the sneakers. She let me use her phone to call my mom if it was ok to take me to the store. My mom said yes and she took me to Dick's and let me pick out my shoes. When we got to the register she purchased my sneakers.

I thanked her so much and started sobbing because she has no idea how much cheerleading means to me. I never knew someone who I was so mean and nasty to would turn around and have the heart to buy me new sneakers. She always gave me respect every single day even when I was disrespectful to her.

I now have the utmost respect for her and she lets me talk to her about my feelings and she gives me advice. I now look at her as a role model. I've shared with her my deepest secret in how im attracted to women and she accepts me for who I am. She's my everything and I will never forget what she done.

I still have 2 more years of high school left and I still talk to my teacher for advice. She has always been their for me and I would be nothing without here. This is a picture of me and my best friend she took on my first event with my new shoes.

Im on the right and my best friend is the left.

I knew a person who had benefited from organ donation. For her that would have been the best gift.

She lived for around 8 years before succumbing. In those 8 years she saw her elder daughter get married and younger daughter complete her education. She got 8 years with her kids. For a sick parent, every single moment with their children is a treasure.

I know another person who is on the heart transplant waiting list back in India. It has been a long time he is on the list.

For many of them, each day passes not knowing whether they will live the next day. Every day ends with a prayer and hope that the next day brings them some news of getting organ donation. How daunting it must be to live that way!

There are various forms of organ donation: living donation, deceased donation, tissue donation and pediatric donation.

Deceased organ donation is a gift to be given after our death and mostly, to strangers who wish to a new day.

My grandmother, my mother and I have signed for deceased organ donation and also, for body donation.

Body donation is where you donate your body after your death for research and education purposes. I mean the medical professionals needs to learn somewhere!

My grandmother had signed up at BJ Medical College, Pune for body donation. But she died in Goa and due to the delay in processing application in Goa Medical College her body could not be donated. Also, she was nearly 90 and had experienced multiple organ failures, and therefore it probably would not have worked out either.

A lot of people frown when they hear about body donation. A part of their frowning is true; there will be no cremation and cremation is important in Hinduism to release the soul and help with reincarnation. But if one is capable to think beyond religion then ppl´s frowns do not impact.

A lot of people also frown with organ donation. I once heard that some religious cult banned/discouraged its people to sign up for organ donation. Apparently they think that saving people who are meant to die is going against God´s wishes. (Such moments bring great laughter!)

My thoughts - after death does anything matter? Then why not be a donor and give someone the gift of life?

One deceased organ donor can save up to eight lives! Two donated kidneys can free two patients from dialysis treatments. One donated liver can be split to go to two patients on the wait list. Two donated lungs mean another two patients are given a second chance, and a donated pancreas and donated heart are two more patients who will receive the gift of life.

To be an Organ Donor please search for “Register for Organ donation in <place name>” on Google and that should help you.

I have been a @Liverpool F.C. fan from ever since I started watching football; has been 14 odd seasons. So when Joe Allen signed for us it presented my oldest ever pal Roshan and I an opportunity like no other! Roshan's aunt is a neighbor of Allen's parents in Wales. She was coming to India to visit and we planned on sending our shirts to Joe to get his autograph. Our shirts signed by a Liverpool 1st team player!! We were dreaming before it even happened! So we handed her our jerseys and a letter in almost illegible handwriting stating, like typical Liverpool fans, how next year would be our year and how Joe would play a huge part in it. In cliched internet content-esque language I'd like to state here - “What happened next will blow your mind!!”

We spent months expecting our Adidas shirts autographed by Joe Allen to reach us. So when we received a parcel from Aunt Jackie we were ecstatic! But wait, those weren't our shirts! And we wanted Joe to sign it not scribble all over it.

Happens to be that Joe Allen misplaced our shirts. So he got us 2 new ones from the little store down at Anfield. He signed them. HE GOT THE REST OF THE 1ST TEAM TO SIGN IT FOR US!

This shirt has the autographs of LEGENDS; people we've grown up worshipping - Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher! Not to mention some world class footballers like Pepe Reina, Phil Coutinho, Luis Suarez, Daniel Agger, YOLO Kolo Toure and the current Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson.

This is not just a very prized possession of mine, but the number of people that took the pain to make 2 lads they barely knew, hundreds of miles away, smile ear to ear, makes it the best gift ever received! There are so many people to thank for this gift! I earned a treasured possession for life (Steven Gerrard's autograph ladies and gents. Stevie Gerrard!! Probably the only hero I've had.). Joe Allen earned a fan for life.

It may sound cheesy and stupid but being a fan means investing a lot emotionally into something you're passionate about! Being a fan is not an easy job. And these are the moments that rationalize your fanaticism. The sheer joy is unexplainable. As the great man Bill Shankly once said, “Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I don't like that attitude. I can assure them it is much more serious than that.”

Hope to someday make this the second best gift I've ever received by gifting myself a seat at the Kop end on a European night maybe. :)

@Quora User \m/

Last summer, I was hired to do some on location costume design, fabrication and wardrobe styling for Microsoft. They were in town for a week and hired me for 5 days to stay onsite at their hotel during their launch, conference and arena show.

I had my 14 year old son with me for the summer, so I told them he'd be with me the whole time, but was old enough to entertain himself. They were fine with that. The people I was working for had kids the same age.

The first evening we had a design meeting, which my son attended and I would get started on everything the next morning.

They set us up in a fancy hotel suite with a living room for sewing and said we could charge whatever food or drinks we wanted to the hotel room.

On the first morning my son was completely amazed by the fabulous Nutella French Toast he got to order off the room service menu. He even posted it to his Facebook page saying “Best. Breakfast. Ever!”

He thought he had died and gone to heaven!

After breakfast, I went downstairs to start my day while he stayed in our glorious hotel room overlooking the lazy riven. I arranged for a friend to come over to hang out with him and he had a laptop, cell phone games, HBO, Lego, a resort swimming pool and other things to keep him occupied.

During our morning meeting here's what happened:

Boss Lady: “Where's your son?”

Me: “Oh… he's upstairs enjoying his Nutella breakfast an angel delivered him from heaven. Then he's got his cell phone games, a laptop and tv, plus a friend is coming over to hang out with him”

Boss Lady: “Well, That's not good enough! Would you mind if we gave him an Xbox and some games… he can keep everything too!”

Me: “OMG, that would be amazing, he would love that!”

We arranged a delivery to the room of an entire Xbox set up including a guy to hook everything up.

I called my son and told him we had a surprise being delivered to the room for him so open the door and let them in.

He thought he was getting a Nutella sandwich for lunch. LOL

When my son opened the door to let the tech in and realized he was going to get to keep a brand new Xbox set up with games, a headset and more, he was shocked, amazed and literally started crying.

It was the most generous gift he'd ever been given in his life.

Here his is in gamer mode among piles of sewing supplies.

Here's the costume I made for one of the executives among other things.

As we pulled away from our 5 day sewing marathon for Microsoft and headed home, my son still couldn't believe the amazing time he had “in the trenches” with my mobile sewing crew and all the fun and gracious gifts he’d received.

He made a comment about how blessed and lucky he seemed to be when he was with me and that “things like this never happen to dad!”.