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Mine's easy. DS was born on Christmas Eve 20 years ago. I spent Christmas Day staring at him while snow fell gently outside the window. Perfection.

Awww. That is a beautiful Christmas gift.

I'm not sure what my best Christmas gift was.

[This message edited by SI Staff at 8:38 PM, December 21st (Saturday)]

Well, geez, NIK; when you start with that, how can we possibly compete??

My best gift was a pair of lovebirds. I hd seen them in a new pet shop that opened in town--blue-masked lovebirds. They were so cute!! I'll never forget how I felt when he came down the stairs with the towel draped over the cage (which, incidently, was the start of the 'bath towel as gift wrap' that lasted too many years... )

They turned out to be a mixed blessing. They were petrified of people and always ran under the paper at the bottom of their cage when anyone looked at them. The didn't make a peep--until we started watching TV--then you couldn't shut them up.

I wound up trading them for a breeding pair of canaries--and they were the start of my pet bird addiction which culminated in five parrots at one time.

they were the start of my pet bird addiction which culminated in five parrots at one time

Instead of the crazy cat lady, Sad is the crazy bird lady

My best present was when I was 15...I got a 1984 Dodge Charger. I was 14 years old, when I got it, but it was my favorite car ever I miss it, but car seats don't fit into a 1980's hatchback, very well

Last year, my H bought me a .40 caliber handgun. I used to own a .45, but my exH traded it in on something he liked better that I hated. This .40 is mine. Hand picked by me. And, even though my H really likes it and would love to keep it, it is completely mine. He barely even fires it when we go to the range. I usually give up what I really want so everyone else can have their stuff. It's nice to have that one thing I didn't compromise on and that isn't a shared asset.

I was 12 and I got a classic jukebox.

In 1987, I was pregnant with the baby I would give up for adoption. It was a very... subdued Christmas that year. My parents and I actually spent Christmas Eve and day at our vacation cottage on a pond, just because we didn't feel like being at home.

The last present I opened was huge. I had no idea what it was. It was a painting my mom had commissioned an artist to do after she'd seen a similar work by this lady. At first glance, it just looked like an abstract swirl of blues and browns. But when you looked long enough, you saw a mother, looking down at her child. The look on her face was a mixture of joy and sadness, love and pain. All the things I was feeling as I entered the second half of my pregnancy.

I loved that painting so much. It was horribly damaged in our house fire in 2000. It took years before I could force myself to throw it away.

NIK & poster above- very sweet & life altering presents (for different reasons of course)

My Babylock serger- the rolls Royce of sewing machines.. I know- crazy. If you sew -it's amazing.

[This message edited by MoreThanMe at 1:50 AM, December 22nd (Sunday)]

The best gift ever was the one I gave myself last year...I went out and bought my first ever brand new car.

I love that car and everything it represents.

One year FWH fixed a necklace I loved that was broken. And bought me new hot rollers bc mine were broken.

His sister said, "So THAT'S why you married him".

Lol

The Kindle I specifically ordered FWS to get me. I did the research, told him exactly where to find it, which one I wanted, how much it cost, you name it. All he had to do was access the website.

I still love it.

k9

In the Fall when I was 10 or 11, we went shopping for and found a bike. My father mentioned something about a birthday present, which meant waiting 8 months or so.

On Christmas, my brother and I were occupied with our presents in one part of the house. My parents called down from upstairs telling me to change the heat setting on the thermostat. I never got around to it, because the bike was in my way. (They figured I would have found the bike on my own.)

It was a warm Christmas, so I spent the rest of the day riding my new bike. A pretty good day for an 11 year-old.

I think mine will be this year. I know Santa is bringing exactly what I want. But please don't tell me. I want it to be a surprise! (I took a page from Tesla's book, I didn't need anything so expensive, just a tablet. Hey, it works!)

My son was due a few days after Christmas but instead arrived two and a half weeks early. Not ON Christmas holiday exactly, but I say Christmas came early that year!

Otherwise… When I was 13 or so, I asked my parents to buy me a brick for Christmas so we could put it in the toilet as a water-saver (water displacement) device (was learning about environmentalism at the time, early stages). My mother actually went ahead and bought me two of them. The reason why it's one of the best gifts is that my mother honored it, in spite of the strangeness of the request.

Even though I spent the whole of xmas 1995 in labor, the next night my beautiful dd joined us. She turns 18 on Thursday and is the best thing ever.

It would probably be the year my brother bought me a hammer. I had mentioned that I wanted one, and he bought it for me.

One year, (6 or so years ago?) my stepmother and I were talking about my childhood, and how I didn't see my dad that much, and by extension missed out on a lot of my half brother's childhood. My dad just couldn't be bothered to have us all at the same time. My 2nd stepmother tried to facilitate our relationship..she would bring my baby brother over for visits, and would sometimes pick up my "whole" brother and I for visits.....but suffice it to say, my half brother grew up not really knowing us.

My stepmother was interested, because she's the mother of my youngest half brother (I have one whole brother, and two half brothers. we range in age from 37-me, 35, 25, and 8), and she was expressing how happy she was that I come over and hang out with the little man as much as I do. He "knows" me, unlike my other brother.

Anyway, all that to say this. That Christmas, she made me a picture cube that had baby pictures of me, and all 3 of my brothers, that my father had kept all those years. I opened that box, and stared at stupidly, thinking what is this? And then I saw myself, and then I realized what I was holding. I cried and cried.

It was a beautiful gift.

My MIL gave me an antique brush set. It's a hairbrush, mirror, and a clothing brush. The back of the brushes have hand-done cross stitches in red roses and vines. The handles are filigreed gold plated metal. She said that she was out shopping, saw the set, and immediately thought of me and bought them. They are on a place of honor on my dresser and every time that I use them, I think of her and of the absolute joy that I felt, when I unwrapped them. Best Gift Ever!

My parents gave me a hamster in a cage when I was about 11. Totally unexpected. I loved that stinking hamster. I've never forgotten the sheer joy of that gift.

I got it today. 2013 has been a horrible year.

My oldest DS surprised me today. He has been in Djibouti since February. Walked in like it was normal (I just bot this house in October).

No notice, total surprise!

I am blessed and so frigging happy! Both DS's home.