My Mother-In-Law gave me a brick for my birthday this year. I was also given quite a bit of dog and cat
food for my birthday.
Now let me explain why these very unusual gifts were a good
thing and made me happy. I asked for
donations to the local no-kill shelter for my birthday instead of gifts for
me. This was the first year, ever, that
we’ve done any kind of event for my birthday, but thirty seemed to merit doing
something. I wanted something low-key,
and I wanted to do something “grown-up”, so we went with a small cookout and
asked for donations in lieu of gifts.
I wasn’t sure how friends and family would respond to
this. Would they think I was
serious? Would they participate? I was overwhelmed by their generosity in giving
to a cause that means so much to me.
They donated over 40 pounds of pet food/treats, a food dish, and nearly
$200.00. The brick was part of a
donation made in my honor to the building fund; it included choosing something
to engrave on the brick, which will be incorporated into the building.
So my birthday gifts this year were very unusual, but they
meant so much to me. And how many people
can start off with “my Mother-In-Law gave me a brick for my birthday this
year”?
Of course in writing this I started thinking about some of
the other unusual (but great) gifts I have received and here are some that came
to mind:
Squeaky dog toys – these were from a co-worker for last
year’s Secret Santa. My dog LOVES
squeaky toys, and I LOVE my dog, so they were great.
Mastering the Art of
French Cooking and a Dutch Oven – these may not seem that unusual, but they
were from my husband on our first anniversary.
This usually leads to gasps of horror, but I really wanted them, and now
whenever I use them I think of our first anniversary.
A self defense key chain spiky thing – How’s that for a
technical name? My dad gave me this
(with orders to carry it around) just before I started driving, along with
lessons in how to use it. Unusual, yes,
but it was just my dad’s way of trying to keep me safe. That’s a pretty amazing gift if you think
about it.
I’d love to hear about your unusual gifts in the
comments.
