Creating Memories: Selecting That Very Special Gift

Giving gifts can be a wonderful experience but choosing the right gift can be a rewarding, unforgettable experience.

Take for example, the baby gift. Ask yourself a few questions. Is your friend expecting or adopting. Will the gift be for a boy, a girl or twins? Perhaps the answer is that you do not know.

Here are a few baby gift suggestions, though most are quite obvious:

1. A Gift Card - A very popular choice.
2. Choose an item or items from the gift registry.
3. Clothes, toys, diapers, strollers, rattles, formula, blankets, baby bath products, well, you get the picture. The list goes on and and on.........and on!

Many parents expecting a baby have 1, 2, 3, sometimes 4 baby showers! This might sound outrageous yet this seems to be the trend. If this is the case, the chances that a gift will be duplicated is quite high. So how will your gift stand out of the crowd?

If you want a gift that stands out, one that will last forever and be passed down or remembered for years, you might want to give a gift that that connects you with the baby or the parents.

A wonderful example is of a woman named Kate who was invited to her first cousin Lindsay's baby shower. Kate and Lindsay's mother's are sisters and when they were growing up, Lindsay's paternal grandmother made Kate several beautiful handmade dolls. By the time Lindsay was born, her grandmother was no longer able to make dolls. When Kate found out the her cousin already had three baby showers, she procrastinated for days, fretting over what she might buy. It wasn't until she went into her attic for something that she came across the five dolls that Lindsay's grandmother had so lovingly crafted. At that moment it dawned on her that those dolls would be a perfect gift.

While Kate wrapped the dolls she began thinking about the letter she would write to Amelia, Lindsay's unborn baby girl. She decided to write a handwritten letter about Amelia's great-grandmother, the dolls and how much it meant for Kate to have such a special woman in her life.
She tucked the letter into a beautiful baby themed card.

The day of the shower had finally arrived. Lindsay opened the handmade baby card and began reading aloud the letter inside that was addressed to Amelia. She tried her best to hold back her tears, and stopped frequently to wipe her yes. The letter did not reveal what these precious gift were, only how much they meant to Kate. One by one, Lindsay opened each doll revealing a more and more of her Grandmother. By this time most of the guests had tears in their eyes. Many of the guest had known Lindsay's Grandmother, a woman who had been deceased for almost 20 years. The dolls were a part of their memories as well.

This, Kate thought, will be a gift to remember. A lasting gift. A gift that will live on through generations.

Who is Your Hero?

While researching the the definition of hero, I realized that I really didn't know it's meaning until I put it into the context of "My hero!"  Remember Popeye's Olive Oil and the way she gushed as she said it to Popeye after he protected her from Brutus?

According to the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, the Indo-European root is *ser meaning "to protect". According to Eric Partridge in Origins, the Greek word Hērōs "is akin to" the Latin seruāre, meaning to safeguard. Partridge concludes, "The basic sense of both Hera and hero would therefore be 'protector'."

This definition says to me that many of our heroes are not heroes at all, such as athletes, celebrities and authors, to name a few. We mistake idols for heroes, although I believe this is something most children do.

Who is your hero?  Maybe you have several. Perhaps it's someone who stood up for you in school or someone who stands up for your rights. Maybe it's an individual who saved your life. Whatever the case, I assume that you will never forget them.

This Father's Day, Jennifer! Designs is celebrating the hero. I could go on and on about why my father is my hero but instead I will write a letter to my father and tuck it neatly into a greeting card that I will present to him on Father's Day. I hope you will too.

As far as the definition of father goes - let's not get literal. Your father might be a step-father or even someone who was "like a father" to you. No matter, I encourage you to share your feelings with that person.

May your Father's Day be filled with joy, laughter and fun!