The Wife has told me many times, “When you give a gift to someone and they don’t see the value, it doesn’t diminish the true significance of the gift.”
When it comes to the time and effort spent on hand crafted gifts, the Wife’s statement is especially true. And I should know. I make all the gifts The Wife and I give for Christmas, birthday, retirement, and any other special occasion. But making handcrafted gifts isn’t a new thing for yours truly. For the first one, we must travel back to that old familiar street not so far away.
The earliest gift I can remember making was for our mom’s birthday. The ashtray was a clay mold of my right hand, and I thought it was perfect. My brothers thought otherwise.
“That’s funny looking.”
“The thumb is too short.”
“Your hand’s not green.”
Even with all the comments from my brothers, Mom professed that it was the perfect gift, and she loved it. She used it every day until we moved from Flamingo.
When we moved, she’d stopped smoking but kept the hand ashtray on a shelf in the living room. When my brothers asked her why, she explained, “Your brother made this for me out of love. That’s what makes it special.” Mom understood the true value.
Some gifts are more painful than others
When I was seven, my brothers and I went around the house collecting used candles to melt down to make a new one for Mom’s Valentines Day gift. Unfortunately, I was holding the glass the boiling wax was poured into. The glass shattered and hot wax instantly covered my hand. I was rushed to the hospital and the wax, now dried, was removed leaving a perfect mold of my left hand.
Mom kept the wax hand right next to the ashtray hand until the day she passed away. Again, she understood the true value of a handmade gift.
Hand turkeys are coming
Soon little ones will be bringing home paintings of turkeys made from imprints of their hands. Turkey hands will adorn refrigerators and living room walls all over our fair town and will be cherished for years after they are taken down. How do I know?
The Wife and I still use night lights in the bedroom and bathroom made of Girly Girls’ handprints from when they were in pre-school.
Christmas gift story too soon
Question: why write a story about Christmas gifts during the last week of October? Answer: anyone making their gifts knows that it takes months of work to have enough for everyone on their Christmas gift list. And, with me now working at an elementary school, my list this year is extremely long.
That’s why I started way back at the beginning of summer painting snowmen. Painting snowmen all summer long is a great way to get way ahead on Christmas gifts — and a great way to feel like it’s a little cooler outside.
The perfect gift
What’s the perfect gift for any occasion this year and every year? A homemade gift made with love.
[Rick Ryckeley has been writing stories weekly in The Citizen since 2001.]
