Our vision is to inspire, empower, educate one another through ongoing community exchange. One of the ways we’re doing this is through our Friday Community column, in a monthly series called In Your Words. We reach out to our contributors and guest writers to ask them a question once a month.
Read what our contributors have to say and share your answer in the comments below.
What is the best gift you have ever given?<< Click to Tweet
Micalagh Moritz Micalagh from Only Small Things
I am most proud of my gifts when they are thoughtful and tailored to the person, instead of being showy and expensive. For my husband Josh's last birthday, I asked a talented 13-year-old friend to paint a picture for Josh of one of his favorite Belizean birds (the scarlet macaw). He loved it and it now hangs in our house!
Satin Pelfrey from My Heart, His Words
One of the best gifts I gave was to my parents. For my mother, I wrote down a bunch of memories we shared together on separate pieces of paper, rolled them up, and placed them inside a beautiful glass jar for her to read when she needed encouragement. For my dad, I made a photo book of memories we shared together for him to look/read through when he needed encouragement.
Alecia Simersky from There's Something Different
I'm not great at giving gifts. I get overwhelmed by the many options. But if I had to say, probably a photo calendar with all the birthdays and anniversaries filled in for my 80-year-old grandmother. She has a lot of great-grandchildren to keep up with and this helps her.
Jennifer from Swing Whistle Zing
This year for my dad's 70th birthday, I mailed birthday postcards to 70 friends and family members to mail to him during the month. Dads can be so hard to buy for sometimes and this was a meaningful gift he could enjoy all month long.
Denise Trio from Blond Moment of the the Day
For my sister's 30th birthday, I chipped in with my parents and brother to buy her an iPad because she and her husband were moving to Japan. It's been a great gift for her to use in a foreign country, but also for all of us to keep in touch even though we are thousands of miles apart.
Kimberly Amici from Living in the Sweet Spot
When my best friend moved from NYC to a neighboring town, I went around to all the local restaurants and assembled a binder of menus for her.
Kimberly Coyle from www.kimberlyanncoyle.com
The last year of my husband's and my engagement, I kept a diary of the twelve months leading up to our marriage. I wrapped it and presented it to him on the eve of our wedding day, and while I shudder to think of all the twenty-something nonsense I wrote, it's a wonderful record of an important time in our lives. It proves the old adage: the best gifts in life truly are free.
Elise Daly Parker from Our Stories God's Glory
The best gift we gave to our family was a trip to Disney World, after years of journeying through the recovery of my husband’s brain injury. It had been a tough time for the family and we just went all out with a trip that included a cruise (the water was so rough they had to empty out the onboard pools, but we didn’t care!) and staying at one of the beautiful Disney resorts. Magical…relaxed…fun family time.