20 Wholesome Stories Of The Best Gifts People Ever Received
There’s always a kind of gift that we know we want and then there’s the ones that we aren’t even aware of that we need. So, when someone comes along in our lives and they are able to see that missing piece and fill it with the perfect gift, that is a moment worth cherishing and sharing because it doesn’t come to all of us and if we are lucky enough to experience it we should be happy enough to spread that joy from it. Feel that swell of emotional fulfilment these folk experienced when they received the most heartwarming and wholesome gift ever as they narrate the tales of how they got their best gift ever.
#1
Image source: MoveToPluto, Joe Haupt
I was seven years old in ICU with pneumonia. It was horrible timing because Christmas was that week.
The nurses brought in a massive television with a Nintendo GameCube hooked up to it. The only game I played was Mario sunshine the entire time I was in the hospital.
I love that game so much! It was so colorful and just super exciting to play since I didn’t even know the game existed. It is still my favorite Mario game ever made but I’m biased.
Well I made it out of the hospital just a few days before Christmas and on Christmas Day we went to my aunties house. We started opening gifts and they got me my very own GameCube but it didn’t appear I had any games for it. They tricked me and hid the other gift they bought. It was Mario Sunshine.
I’ve never ever had tears of joy but when I opened these gifts I couldn’t help but cry. I was so surprised and so happy! I’ve still never experienced the same emotions I had in that day.
#2
Image source: anon, Michael Rhode
We didn’t have a lot of money growing up, and one year my mom bought my brother and I those round sleds from the dollar store. We went to my grandmas house with them, (she had a lot of land,) and she took us sledding on the hills behind her house for literally the ENTIRE day. So much sledding that one of the sleds got a hole in it. She finally convinced us to go inside, as i’m sure she was freezing, and made us hot chocolate. My brother and I bet her that she wouldn’t wake up at 4 am the next morning and take us sledding while the sun rose…..she did. I love her so much.
#3
I had major surgery my second year in college. I was hooked up with the nicest suite in the hospital due to my best friend’s dad being a major figure there when all I really wanted was him to make sure I had a private room if one was available. My best friend was at school out of state and sent flowers, making sure that the florist didn’t use anything pink (because I hated pink). Someone sent me a basket of my favorite snacks. My brother’s boss, someone I had never met, stopped by with another coworker of his (another stranger) and gave me a plant. All of these were so thoughtful, but the absolute best gift came from the “funny guy” in our group of friends. He knew that I would not be able to eat real food, so he made me jello. A two gallon Tupperware tub of jello with a (sanitized by boiling and new) squeaking dog toy in the middle because it “looked too boring” otherwise and he was still trying to make up for accidentally scaring my dog the year before. The level of thought he put into that blew me away. The dog never got the toy, I kept it and still have it more than 15 years later.
Image source: knowingburns
#4
Image source: Maverik22, Maverik22
My brother was starting a new fitness routine, and told me he wanted to make a competition out of who could improve their body dimensions. I wasn’t planning on working out or anything but wanted to encourage him so said “screw it” and let him measure my upper body. Turns out it was for a custom made Captain America leather motorcycle jacket. I screamed like a little girl on Christmas morning
Edit: I should mention the helmet too. They took my ski helmet, painted it up nice (silver wings on the side) and seamlessly affixed the “A”. It was beautifully done and part of the surprise
#5
Image source: Kavity123, Michael Stern
My aunt once put aside an extra portion of food every time she made supper for her family (for a month) and then delivered it to me. I was a starving college student and that was a very appreciated gift!
#6
Image source: garbage-human420, Andrew Malone
My family was abusive, and poor. Growing up I always kind of hated Christmas time, because it just sort of highlighted how s****y my own life was.
Well one year after I moved away to college, I was scheduled to work Christmas day, since I was a Resident Advisor. A student who had been evicted from housing for selling [illegal substances] came after me and attacked me. The school told me I should leave campus until the police caught the kid. I didn’t have any where to go, so I called my best friend. Her and her dad drove all the way to my school on Christmas eve to get me.
When I woke up, I discovered that my friends mom had some how conjured up a a full stocking and a couple small gifts. It was the most amazing gift, because I had never had a good Christmas, and then her mom just went so above and beyond to make me feel loved.
#7
Image source: acheron53, MYSATURDAYM0RNINGS
I was probably 8 or 9 years old and I got this toy truck that would respond to voice commands. I played with that thing all the time because it was fun. It lit up, made noise and drove forward. Over time, it just stopped working, but my grandma wouldn’t throw away any toys us kids had. After my grandma passed away in 2017, I was trying to keep busy and decided to clean up the toy box. I opened up the battery compartment and there was a note in my grandpa’s hand writing saying “Mary-Lou, don’t replace batteries, this thing is annoying. -Bill” I replaced the batteries and it still works. Knowing that my grandpa took the batteries out and there was nothing wrong with it made me smile. I miss my grandparents so much.
#8
Image source: pghdetdencol, Joe Hall
When I was a little girl (5 or 6) I was obsessed with ballerinas. My dad got me tickets to a professional performance of the Nutcracker. It was just him and me. I still remember feeling so grown up when we had dinner beforehand in a grown up restaurant. The ballet was beautiful. It was just a wonderful day.
#9
Image source: Best_enjoyed_wet, Steve Jurvetson
We are pretty poor and I’m disabled but my Daughter is obsessed with Hamilton the musical. She’s an amazing kid and really helps me a lot and never complains. I saved from the second I’d heard the show was coming to London. So Last Christmas year we bought tickets to see Hamilton in London for our Daughter. I honestly thought she was going to pass out she was so happy.
We saved like crazy for the hotel and flights as we are at the opposite side of the country. We made a mini holiday of the trip. She had never had a holiday either. It was one of the best experiences ever, I love the show but I couldn’t stop watching my Daughters face. Best seats in the house too, cost a fortune but definitely worth it.
It was my best Christmas present watching her face getting her best Christmas present.
#10
Image source: manlikerealities, Nenad Stojkovic
When I was really young, I thought I might want to be a scientist. My grandmother didn’t really understand what scientists do and gave me a stethoscope. Some clinical scientists use stethoscopes but for the most part, not really useful. I pretended to like it and the stethoscope sat in my closet for years.
I’m graduating from med school now and have used the same stethoscope across all these years. It’s my good luck charm.
#11
Image source: Nick_papagiorgio_22, RODNAE Productions
When I was 20, my dad was diagnosed with colon cancer right after my birthday in September, but it was very aggressive and he was eventually put on hospice in early December. He passed away the night before Christmas Eve, but he managed to write a Christmas card with help from my mom. The card had some cash in it (I don’t remember how much), but he essentially wrote a long letter to me explaining how proud of me he was and how he’ll always be looking over me. I pull that card out every Christmas for the past 7 years and anytime I need a little pick me up. Hands down, best Christmas gift ever.
#12
When I was a kid, my Mom went into the hospital in November, dying there on Christmas Eve. She hadn’t Christmas shopped, obviously, except for one small package I’d found weeks earlier in her dresser. It was wrapped and had my name on it. Christmas morning, I soberly opened the package. It was a simple ornament, a happy dog with a frisbee in its mouth. The frisbee read “Merry Christmas.” It didn’t look anything like my own frisbee-crazed dog, but it didn’t matter. Cue the waterworks.
This isn’t my best Christmas gift by any objective measure, but decades on, it’s the one that still means the most.
#13
Image source: kikikiwi625, Pat Kwon
The Christmas before my father passed away he gave me a necklace, which was very unusual. He normally just gave me cash. The necklace was three hearts intertwined, and engraved on the back was, “My little girl yesterday, my friend today, my daughter forever.”
He knew how sick he was but he never told anyone, and he died the following August. The pattern of that necklace is my first and only tattoo (I got it done a week after he died.). I plan on giving the necklace to my own daughter someday.
#14
Image source: Cutebandicoot, Sigmund
I don’t even know if it’s the “best” present but just one of those I’ll never forget.
My dad and I have an extremely distant relationship. He was never an affectionate or emotional person. All birthdays, celebrations, events, etc went to my mom to organize. It was just simply not a task he was involved in. He didn’t give gifts or engage in the theatrics of any of it and I can’t blame him – he is an immigrant, lived a very hard life, and culturally speaking, this is just how it was for him. One Christmas, I was probably like 10 or 11, I noticed among all the other presents I had from my mom and other family, there was an actual present from my dad addressed to me. I opened it and it was like this child’s picture book, not a baby book, but definitely aimed for about age 7-8 and way too young for me. It was just shocking to me that he would first of all, care about getting me a present at all and secondly, choose this child’s book out of all the things he could gotten. I realized, at 10 years old, that my dad genuinely had no idea what to get me, but wanted to get me SOMETHING. He only knew that I loved to read and read books all day long, so he got me a book, even though he had no idea what level reading I was on.
Maybe that is not a very good story or makes him seem bad, but it will always stick with me. He is such a non-sentimental and stoic person, I can’t imagine him going to a bookstore, choosing this very cutesy, colorful book with me in mind, and actually giving it to me as a gift, but he did. He wanted to give me something, in his awkward way, and tried his best.
#15
When I turned 16, my first boyfriend stiched a pair of pants for me. He used colored thread to stitch a candle, a heart, a sun, the year, and more. Pretty f*****g cool embroidery. When you turned the jeans inside out, He had written love notes all over the inner fabric. Made me melt.
Image source: bkind2ppl, mariya_m
#16
I know you’re not supposed to give pets as gifts, but a few days before Christmas, when I was nine, my mum gave me a little kitten. She was the last one left and was small, skinny with runny eyes and runny nose. I adored her and for 12 years she was the light of my life.
Image source: Cocobean4, Andrea Kirkby
#17
Image source: anon, Robert Couse-Baker
A cookbook that my mom made. She handwrote out each recipe of my favorite dishes growing up. The day that I moved out of the house, she gifted this to me.
#18
Image source: Claireski, Laura Chouette
Christmas 2015.
In the September of that year my mum was taken to hospital with severe stomach pains. It was pancreatitis bought on by a rogue gall stone getting stuck in the pancreatic duct. She spent all night in agony & didn’t call an ambulance until 7am. She was ICU for a day or so, then HDU for around 3 weeks & then a normal ward for around a week. When she got back home I’d go round to help her out but she was really struggling to eat & couldn’t keep anything down. She was having tests done but nobody seemed to have a solution.
All the time when mum was ill what I wanted more than anything was just to see her back to normal. One thing was seeing her driving around in her little red car looking all lovely (she always takes pride in looking nice & I know how much it was getting to her in hospital) & most of all her eating a full meal.
So Christmas Day I’m over at my dads and look out the front window. Up pulls mums little red car & she gets out with her new coat on & her lipstick & make up & all. I was beyond happy! Then we sit down for dinner… she clears her plate! Then we have Christmas pudding & to top it off… she asks for seconds!
That was the best present I could ever have received!
#19
Image source: ayriana, Bruno Justo Pego
When I was in the eighth grade my band teacher called my mom and told her that I was talented, and that if I wanted to continue to play, my current instrument would hold me back. At the time, I played my dad’s trumpet, and it was 30 years old. That Christmas/birthday/the next Christmas my gift was my trumpet. I had to agree to play all the way through high school, and it was difficult for my parents to afford it- I believe it cost about $700-800. It cost enough that we timed the purchase for the same time we were going to a neighboring state that had no sales tax just to save the hundred bucks. I still remember the rain in the parking lot as I walked to the car, clutching the blue case to my chest. It was the most expensive thing I owned, or would own for a long time.
Band got me up in the morning, it made it so I went to school even when other kids sucked. It gave me something to work for, it gave me camaraderie and made me depend on others as others depended on me. It gave me pride, and showed me the correlation between hard work and reward. It kept me in college when I may have otherwise chickened out, given up and gone home. There is no rush like running onto a field with 30k people screaming in the stands, and music was the only thing that would ever give me that feeling.
I’m 33 now, and I don’t play that much anymore- but that trumpet, a music stand and a book of exercises still sits next to my desk. I hope to allow my son to play it someday. The trumpet, band, music in general changed my life, it made me a better person and it made me who I am today.
I’ve posted this before, so if it looks familiar that’s why. Also, since I posted this the first time I’ve joined my local community band and I’m playing again. It makes my heart happy.
#20
Image source: Sinestro1982, Minh Hoang
I was in high school. Ocarina of Time had come out in November, and I wanted it so badly for Christmas. I got up Christmas morning, opened my gifts and it wasn’t there. Then my dad pointed out a small package he had hidden behind the tree under the tree skirt, in the back. Opened it, and there it was. Ocarina of Time. My dad had to go to 6-7 different stores when he was traveling on business to find that. Played it non-stop over break. Makes me love my dad more every time I think about it.
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