6:43 p.m. - 2004-05-11
On Presents
I'm starting to think about Christmas, in the obsessive compulsive way that I have, and have started to contemplate what really makes a great gift. A thread on one of my online message boards was talking about graduation gifts, and it left me pondering some of the gifts I've received over the years, as well as some of the ones I've given.
After the fooferah surrounding my birthday present this year, it seemed like nobody was ever going to be able to top that one, nor would I want them to try. But I think I wasn't giving my friends enough credit. Last night, after talking about it for months and forgetting every time, I got my birthday present from Diana. In addition to a hilarious and cute pillow with pigtails, she made me magnetic poetry. Personalized, hand crafted magnetic poetry. It is fabulous and perfect and so very us that I'm still unbelievably excited about it, 24 hours later. We're looking at August 1st for moving out together, and now I'm even more excited to share a fridge where we can create foolish wonderful poems out of this fabulous gift.
And then I stopped to think for a few minutes, and I remembered the graduation present that the Raisin got me last year. A copy of "Oh, the Places You'll Go" - a seemingly innocuous graduation present until I opened it up and found the inside covers filled with collages of our friendship. Packed to the gills, each page bursting with memories on either side of one of the happiest stories in the world.
I carry that book with me in my laptop case now, a reminder of my best friend and a motivating read when I'm feeling down about myself. Just knowing that it's nearby is a source of comfort, and when I'm writing it's the first thing I turn to when I get stuck.
I know I'll never top my gifts to her last year - her birthday, five days after her wedding, I gave her a scrapbook of Disneyland, every memory and picture and memento crammed onto the pages, with a matching soundtrack complete with carefully designed cover. I spent hours on that book, making sure each picture was perfect, checking my notes from the trip (yeah, I know, I'm a gigantic nerd), picking the perfect spot for each quote. I wish that I hadn't had to give it away, but I know that the Raisin appreciates it just as much as I do.
The wedding present that Jamie and I made for them was equally as good - no small feat. I pondered for hours how to come up with something that wasn't just for the Raisin, wanting to be able to include the Cowboy even though it was my best friend in the whole world getting married. And I succeeded, too - Jamie and I spent hours, in Edmonton and Calgary, collecting the elements that we wanted and needed. It was perfectly suited to them, right down to the bottle of non-alcoholic cider. The card got separated from the gift, but when the Raisin opened it she knew who it was from without having to think about it at all, and in my mind that's the sign of the perfect gift.
And so I've sort of created this vicious circle of things with presents, particularly for the Raisin, as I develop this reputation for being really good at picking them out. I love buying things for my friends, and wish I had the money to do so more often, but I'm stuck on a limited budget, knowing that I'll have to replace cost with time, expense with care. And so I start planning, months early, for all the things I'll make and do for my friends this year. And hope that I'll be able to live up to the reputation that I've made for myself.
