The Perfect Gift: Happy, Young & Long-Lasting for Just $9.95
The holiday season is a stressful time of year, and this year many families are feeling the crunch, making it even harder for those who are limited in their resources for giving gifts to their loved ones. In an attempt to help ease the stress, many writers and bloggers have published articles aimed at helping people by giving them suggestions on everything from books to make-it-yourself holiday baskets.
Yes, I know that gifts are optional. But let’s be real, it doesn’t matter who you are, Christmas means presents — especially for kids. Now most families will try to make sure that they have something for their little ones, but parents will also feel the guilt of not being able to give something to each other.
Now, I thought about this scenario for a while and then told my wife I did not want any presents. Not because of the money, but because I am so sad about some of the current problems we are all facing.
I sat there and reflected on the sad state of affairs this holiday season, when just like in the movie, Moonstruck, she hit me on the side of my head and said, “Snap out of it!”
So then I began to think about the perfect gift for me this Christmas. And that’s when it came to me…the perfect gift for me would be something that would bring me joy, make me feel young, and last for a long, long time. Now I know what you’re thinking — but that’s not exactly what I had in mind. My perfect gift this year would be to reconnect with a long lost friend.
I told my wife that if she wanted to give me a great gift this year, it would be to find my best friend from high school. Now this guy was my buddy, who for all four years was always at my side, and with whom many of my fondest high school memories were shared. But somehow college, medical school, residencies and life in general had separated Joe and me for almost 30 years. Let’s face it — I had forgotten about Joe. But this Christmas season, while thinking about my perfect gift, I remembered him.
Three days later, my wife called me up and said, “I found him and it only cost me $9.95.” She had gone on the Internet and tracked him down through one of the many Web sites, that for a small fee, offer a lifetime of priceless memories. So she got his number and left a message, and for the next few hours, all of my kids waited around with me to see when Joe would call.
Later that evening, Joe called me back and for those 15 minutes of conversation with my old friend, I felt like I was in high school again.
Memories are good, but when you can make those memories a reality, they make you feel the way all holidays should make us feel: Great.
Tags: Christmas, Dr. Manny Alvarez, economy, friendship, gifts, holidays, presents, recession, stress
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How about a better idea. In these difficult times, give that $9.95 to a homeless person or someone in need instead, and make a NEW friend. Besides, you can probably find the long-lost friend by simply doing a free google search anyway.
Your article put a smile on my face; that is very rare. What a great idea.
Lou L, if you want to give YOUR ten bucks to a homeless person, you are free to do so. You guys always trying to tell other people a better way to spend their own money make me want to barf.
Lou L, if you want to give YOUR ten bucks to some homeless person, go right ahead. But you guys that are always telling me a better way to spend my own money make me sick.
So what is the website, turkey ? !!!
So what IS the website, turkey ? Why hold out on the key part of the story. Woulod like to use it to find an old Air Force buddy from 1953 in North Africa. Share.
So why haven’t you put my comment up? Apparently there is no need to bother with making a comment. Goodbye.
I know how you feel; this same thing happened to me about a month ago! A good friend I had lost touch with about 20 years ago called me (I think she said she paid $1.99 on a search site), and she visited me a couple weeks later. It was great, just like we’d never missed all that time. It really cheered me up – I’ve had a pretty rough year, and it was so great to know someone thought that much of me to look me up after all these years. Now we’re keeping in touch almost daily.
I know how you feel – the same thing happened to me about a month ago! My best childhood friend and I lost contact about 20 years ago, and she paid $1.99 on a search site to get my phone number. She visited us a few weeks later, and it was great, just like we’d never missed all those years. Except for getting old and all.
It was so uplifting; I’ve had a rough year, and to know someone thought that much of me to contact me after all these years really made me feel good. Now we keep in contact almost daily. More people need to do this; you never know whose day you’re going to make better.
Lou – you are a dork. Maybe if it was the last $9.95 someone has to spend your idea might be a good one. At this point, O’bama will help us spend our money from the sound of things.
Lou,
Why don’t you give your $10 from the govt check you get for nothing every month and go give it away, while I take my hard-earned $10 and buy myself something nice? MMMKY!?
Lou – it really is great that you want to help people, and I think people should. But let’s at least give Dr. Manny credit here for promoting a relatively cheap and meaningful gift idea over hundreds of dollars spent on some self-isolating electronic device like an iPod.
Lou L, using Bob Wertha’s eloquent diction, what you said DID make me Barf!
Wow! You guys are really in the holiday spirit! First, there are many websites that do this, just type in “search for old friend” or something in a search engine, and you’ll see lots. Second, Lou, you’re a bit self-righteous, you have no idea what others are doing for the homeless (my largest single charitable donation each year). Third, why drag politics into this? It was merely an article about a neat idea for an inexpensive Christmas present! Also, the posts don’t come up immediately.
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