As you scour the malls looking for just the right gifts for your loved ones this Christmas, consider the fact that a gift that involves sharing and caring means so much more than any gift that will take up space in your loved one’s simplified living area. In other words consider giving a gift that truly hits the sweet spot … one that will fill up their hearts without cluttering their living space.
Here are wonderful gifts that have warmed the hearts of some seniors… in their own words:
“My daughter is incredibly busy with a full-time career and two young active kids. For Christmas she gave me the best gift ever… a whole day of helping her bake Christmas goodies. I shared all sorts of my favourite recipes and I even showed her my tricks and shortcuts so she can pass them on to her kids.” – Donna Hartley (Medicine Hat)
My stepdaughter offered to be my driver for a day. She took time off work and drove me to all my appointments. We had a nice lunch out and we even stopped by the Military Museum on the way home – a place I had been meaning to visit for years.” – Ed Jensen (Calgary)
Last year for Christmas my 17-year-old grandson, who is a lovely pianist, offered me the gift of music for Christmas. He let me pick the day and bring along my two closest friends, and my daughter served us tea and cookies while he gave us a private concert. It was delightful!” – Marion Borne (Edmonton)
“I have always loved the sky, and I really miss seeing the stars since I’ve gone to live in the Manor. Last Christmas my Son arranged a night when they were forecasting a lot of meteor activity, and just he and I drove far out into the country late at night and we parked with a thermos of hot chocolate and just spent two hours talking and watching the sky.” – John Parsons (Red Deer)
“In my younger years I was always one to go out and get my feet spiffed up. I thought it was wonderful to look down and see nice feet with painted toe nails. One Christmas my 14-year-old granddaughter was taking some kind of beauty course in school and so instead of buying me a gift she came to my residence and gave me a pedicure. She was so much better than any of the professionals and it was wonderful having her all to myself for a few hours.” – Darlene Stephenson (Okotoks, Alberta)
“My daughter considers me a great chess player… she doesn’t know very many others! One Christmas she decided to organize a chess tournament with all of her kids and she invited my old friend and a few neighbours to come as well. The best part was teaching my grandkids the game I love. It was just wonderful.” – Thomas Scott (Airdrie)
“When my Granddaughter announced her engagement she told both me and her other grandmother that she was giving us the gift of bringing us along on a day of wedding dress shopping. She asked each of us to look through the racks and choose a favourite dress and she tried them on, along with several of her choice. We were both in heaven. We loved every minute of it. If by chance I don’t live to see the actual wedding I’m just thrilled to know I was there when she found her special dress.” – Areta Plume (Calgary)
“One of the best Christmas gifts I ever received was an invitation to go to my great granddaughter’s Christmas pageant at school. There were all these little girls and fellas dressed as angels dancing behind this bright white screen. It just brings tears to my eyes every time I recall how sweet they were.” – Selma Korble (Calgary)