An Open Thread About Really Good Presents

Earlier this week, Jenny Tolep invited us to share the worst gift we’d ever received (or given); today, I’ll open the thread to discuss the best gifts we’ve ever received (or given).

As a child, the holiday gift high was achieved when I was nine, with my American Girl doll (I chose Kirsten, whatever that says about me); as an adult, I still think the best gift I ever received came when I was in college. I was visiting a friend’s dorm room and I saw a copy of Leonard Bernstein’s Findings: Fifty Years of Reflections on Music, and I said “Where’d you get that? I love that book and I’ve been looking for a copy forever, but it’s super-rare.” (The internet, at this point, was just getting started; if you wanted old books, you still had to go to a used bookstore — or ask the bookstore owner to call other used bookstores and see who had a copy.)

He said “Actually, it’s yours. I got it for you for Christmas but I hadn’t had time to wrap it yet.”

In terms of Christmas Magic, it’s kind of hard to top that.

As for the best gift I’ve ever given… it might have been the year my sister and I gave my mom the Super Nintendo Tetris-style game Wario’s Woods. It was one of the few times I’ve actually seen sheer delight cross someone’s face after opening a present.

How about you? The thread is open, so chat presents or anything else that’s on your mind.

Photo credit: Martin Bergesen, CC BY 2.0.

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