Gifts!
Gifts make me so happy. I love giving out gifts especially handmade gifts and I love receiving gifts too.
The act of giving gifts is only but half of the journey when it comes to gift giving. It is the art of selecting the perfect gift to suit the receiver’s needs or quirks so much that they are left speechless and very happy.
Whenever I want to give someone a gift I am always worried not about their reaction to the gift, but how they feel afterwards. My main goal when giving gifts is to make the receiver happy not just at the moment of giving out the gift but in future also. I am always happy when people remind me of how my gift makes them happy. It gives me this childlike happiness and confidence in myself.
Unfortunately though, there are always peculiar stories.
I would be sharing two personal experiences and the second experience is of course the answer to the thoughtful prompt of the week.
I had just gotten into high school and was trying to get acquainted with the school surroundings. It took me a while to really get familiar with the students and the teachers and realize that what people say is not really what they mean.
One month after I enrolled, my class teacher announced that her birthday was coming up and she demanded that the whole class get her gifts for her birthday. We all rejoiced with her and promised to get her something. I had no idea that my classmates decided to form themselves into groups so they'd collectively contribute to get one item.
I remember going home that day and then telling my mother everything my class teacher said regarding her birthday and my mother found it strange that a teacher was making demands from students just so she could get gifts for her birthday. My mother refused to give me money to get her something and so I had to resort to my art and craft skills because I didn't want to be the classmate that didn't give her class teacher a gift.
I made an artsy gift card for her with a cute handwritten letter all wrapped nicely in pretty birthday foil.
I was really happy with what I made and I was convinced that she would like it too.
I got to school the next day and went to her office to give her. She smiled nicely and received my gift with thanks and I went home that day feeling fulfilled.
A new term began and I made a friend from whom I got the information that my gift was thrown in the trash the minute I turned and left the staff office. I got to know this because the girl and I were talking about the teachers we like and those we don't and I told her that I liked our class teacher then because she smiled a lot and was nice to me and she liked my gift.
The girl laughed and told me that she was in the staff office that but I didn't notice her because we were not friends yet and that as soon as I left the office, the celebrant threw it away and laughed because she thought I was poor and I could get her expensive gifts like my classmates did.
I was really hurt but I was also glad that I got to know about who my class teacher was later on when I was definitely ready to handle such information.
It's really sad that sometimes when receiving gifts it is important to be really grateful for the effort that went into making that gift a reality. Understand that people give gifts according to their different and unique circumstances and we shouldn't let our greed let us get carried away.
After that day, my class teacher never got any gift from me ever.
The gift that continues to leave me speechless and continues to warm my heart till this very day is the gift I received many years ago when I was seven or eight years old. It was a surreal experience for me because it was my first gift ever and it was made all special by the element of surprise.
My eldest brother had returned from the university but I was fast asleep when he did so I couldn't receive my gift firsthand. Very early the next day, he had to go out with my father and they were gone for the whole day. It was my mother that gave me the gift and informed me that it was my brother who got it for me.
It was a book and a stuffed white bunny.
The book was a compilation of fun, short and quirky stories that he knew would interest me. I can't remember the title of the book because the book is probably stowed somewhere I cannot remember.
I remember jumping for joy. I remember hugging my mom happily and seeing her smile. I also remember most of all, my brother's joy when he saw my reaction. He saw that I was really happy and he was pleased because he finally found out what I liked.
Going forth, I got more books as gifts from my siblings but that first gift still holds a warm place in my heart.
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Image is mine...
