Whether it’s the toy you always wanted or a loved one showing up at your door, nothing compares to getting the perfect Christmas gift!
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Toy Truck
“I was probably eight or nine years old and I got this toy truck that would respond to voice commands. I played with that thing all the time because it was fun. It lit up, made noise, and drove forward. Over time, it just stopped working, but my grandma wouldn’t throw away any toys we kids had.
After my grandma passed away in 2017, I was trying to keep busy and decided to clean up the toy box.
I opened up the battery compartment and there was a note in my grandpa’s handwriting saying, ‘Mary-Lou, don’t replace batteries, this thing is annoying. -Bill’
I replaced the batteries and it still works. Knowing that my grandpa took the batteries out and there was nothing wrong with it made me smile. I miss my grandparents so much.”
GameCube
“I was seven years old in ICU with pneumonia. It was horrible timing because Christmas was that week.
The nurses brought in a massive television with a Nintendo GameCube hooked up to it. The only game I played was Mario sunshine the entire time I was in the hospital.
I love that game so much! It was so colorful and just super exciting to play since I didn’t even know the game existed. It is still my favorite Mario game ever made but I’m biased.
Well, I made it out of the hospital just a few days before Christmas and on Christmas Day we went to my aunt’s house. We started opening gifts and they got me my very own GameCube but it didn’t appear I had any games for it. They tricked me and hid the other gift they bought. It was Mario Sunshine.
I’ve never ever had tears of joy but when I opened these gifts I couldn’t help but cry. I was so surprised and so happy! I’ve still never experienced the same emotions I had in that day.”
Children’s Book
“My dad and I have an extremely distant relationship. He was never an affectionate or emotional person. All birthdays, celebrations, events, etc. went to my mom to organize. It was just simply not a task he was involved in. He didn’t give gifts or engage in the theatrics of any of it and I can’t blame him.He is an immigrant, lived a very hard life, and culturally speaking, this is just how it was for him.
One Christmas, I was probably like ten or eleven, I noticed among all the other presents I had from my mom and other family, there was an actual present from my dad addressed to me.
I opened it and it was like this child’s picture book, not a baby book, but definitely aimed for about age seven or eight and way too young for me. It was just shocking to me that he would first of all, care about getting me a present at all and secondly, choose this child’s book out of all the things he could gotten.
I realized, at ten years old, that my dad genuinely had no idea what to get me, but wanted to get me something. He only knew that I loved to read and read books all day long, so he got me a book, even though he had no idea what level reading I was on.”
Shadow Box
“My mom passed from cancer this year, she had been stage four for eleven years and passed at fifty-five years old, so pretty young.
Last year Christmas was really emotional as things were taking a turn for the worse.
My mom made me a large shadow box with ticket stubs she had saved from every concert we went to since I was a kid. We’re both big fans of music. Mr. Dressup, Pearl Jam, White Stripes, etc. Not only had she saved these over the years, she went online and got post cards, buttons and patches from the specific tour dates we attended to go with the stubs.
The moment I unwrapped it, and realised what it was, I burst into tears and cried for a good while. It was a very heavy moment and one of the best gifts I’ve ever been given.”
‘Sincerely One Of My Best Holidays Ever’
“One year, my buddy invited all his friends who couldn’t make it home for Christmas to come to his parents’ house. So eight of us caravanned there on Christmas Eve and we watched movies and hung out with his super cool family.
None of us expected gifts because they were being so nice already to house and feed us. But in the morning, we came out to find his mom had filled stockings for each of us and we all had one present to open under the tree.
Good times and great people that year. Sincerely one of my best holidays ever.”
Nutcracker Tickets
“When I was a little girl, I was obsessed with ballerinas. My dad got me tickets to a professional performance of the Nutcracker. It was just him and me. I still remember feeling so grown up when we had dinner beforehand in a grown up restaurant. The ballet was beautiful. It was just a wonderful day.”
Knock On The Door
“I think I was in either first or second grade. My grandfather and I were very close, he would always call me his buddy. He was also into Christmas big time, it was his favorite holiday, and he made it very special for all of us. I guess his Christmas spirit goes back to World War Two when he was away from his family for three straight Christmases.
My grandfather always came to our house for Christmas. He lived two and a half hours away in Johnstown Pennsylvania. He would spend two weeks at our house for Christmas. That year, for some reason he said he wouldn’t be able to make it down. I was sad because this would be the first Christmas without him. Fast forward to Christmas Eve and there’s a knock on our door.
I ran to the door and my grandfather was standing there.
He said, ‘Hey buddy.’
I jumped into his arms.
My mom and my grandfather set it up just to suprise me. I’ve never felt that same happiness and joy since.
A few years later my grandfather suffered a stroke and he had to be on a breathing machine, so he could no longer come down to our house for Christmas, so we would make the long trek to Johnstown for Christmas. He died five years after suffering his stroke. It’s been nine years since he’s passed, and every Christmas Eve I hope to hear the knock on the door.”
Broke College Student
“Clothes and a gift card to a local grocery store worth seventy-five dollars.
I was a broke college student, so this was the equivilant of having my wildest dreams come true.”