Gift Experiences

Hi, my name is Belinda and I have 1 brother 2 sisters and 3 daughters. We wanted to do something nice for my parents 42 anniversary. We weren’t sure what and a friend suggested an apple orchard.

They are early birds so we woke up very early, about 5 am. and had a 2 hour drive to Walpole NH (Alyson Orchard). We stopped and ate breakfast at nice restaurant and bought some souvenirs.  At their age we had to tell them where we were going.  They were very excited.

We arrived at the apple orchard about 9 am and we told the front desk it was their 42 anniversary.  They treated them with great respect.  We reserved them a room of their own and we had the whole day.  We let them do their own thing with help from the orchard.  They picked apples, played games, took a walk in the wilderness, they looked so cute holding hands, hugging and kissing as if they were young adults.

It was an awesome feeling seeing them in love.  They had a nice romantic dinner with candle lights.  They were so happy.  The next day, we left at noon, which was check-out time.  They had their baskets full of apples and bags full of goodies.  We went home, and mom was very thankful.  She baked us a couple of apple pies.  I would recommend an apple orchard for any occasion.Belinda - Rutland, VT

I am a mother of 4, Mathew (12), Kyle (8) and the twins Kayla and Jayla (5).  We pretty much have our birthdays close to each other.  Mathew’s is June 2, Kyle’s is May 24, Kay and Jay are May 26 and mine is May 29. We didn’t plan it that way, it’s just a coincidence.   The only odd ball is my husbands which is November 9.

Early May my husband, Jim, decided to take out the Christmas tree and the decorations for Christmas.  He didn’t say much he just did it.  Then he got everyone together and told us we are going to celebrate Christmas in May for our birthdays.  The kids seem excited.  We decorated the inside of the house like Christmas, put stockings up, lights, the whole works.

I have to say, I was embarrased and nervous to have family or company over but they all liked the idea.  They even cooperated, bought presents and our neighbor even volunteered to be Santa.  Before you knew it the whole block was involved in some way.  There were even presents for the neighbors kids. 

We decided that May 29, since it fell in the middle, was the day.  Kay and Jay wrote a letter to Santa letting him know we were going to have Christmas in May.  On May 29th, the kids were so excited, Santa brought them some presents, our neighbors came by with more presents and food.  Of course, most presents had Happy Birthday.  We had so much food it was incredible.  We played games, told stories ate pies and cookies.

It truly was like Christmas.  Even though I had my doubts at first, Jim had a great idea that the kids really enjoyed and that’s what it’s about.  It was a Christmas birthday we will never forget.  Who knows, it may become a tradition, the kids have asked if we can do it every year. Liz & Jim - Little Rock, AR

This may have not only been a gift, but a memory.  We lost Michael Jackson yesterday and I’ve been devastated.  I was a big fan since I was 8.  When I turned 8, my big sister took me to a Jackson 5 concert.

My sister, bless her soul, loved Michael Jackson and took me to one of their concerts for my birthday.  It was an awesome concert.  We were near the front, I’m thinking about the 4th row, but after a while, there were no rows.  My sister was holding my hand tight and everybody was screaming.  I remember the Jackson 5 with their Afros and their bright clothing.

It was my first concert ever, it was a great birthday gift.  I was hooked on their music ever since.  My respects to the Jackson family and our prayers are with them.  I’ve enjoyed the stories posted on this website and felt this is appropriate.  RIP Michael Jackson.  You will be missed.  Mikalah - Sacramento  CA

My husband works as a grounds keeper for the high school stadium.  He did something that blew my mind away.  It was my birthday and I’m not going to tell you how old I am.  He called me up and told me to get ready, that we are going out to eat.

That evening we went out to the football field, he said it’s a surprise.  It was getting dark, so I couldn’t see a whole lot, but as I was getting closer to the 50 yard line I saw a nice table.  I figured it out, we were going to have a nice dinner on the 50 yard line.

As soon as we arrived at the table, all the lights on the stadium turned on.  We were right on the middle of the football field.  Then the loud speaker came on and some friends and co-workers started singing happy birthday.  I never expected them there at all.  It was really nice.

When they were done, they all came down, gave me some presents, wished me a happy birthday.  I was thinking to myself, “ok, I have a nice table with a bottle of wine, but no food” and I was hungry.  I opened up some presents and he finally asked me “aren’t you hungry?”

He got on his 2-way radio and a man on a golf cart came with some food and a cd player.  He put on some music and we had our dinner.  We even danced a song.  It was awesome.  He said a couple of things went wrong but I didn’t notice, everything seemed perfect.  Paula - Lafayette LA

I am a 34 year old single female and I’ve never been to Las Vegas. I’ve always wanted to go but never have enough money. My best friend decided to do something special for my 34th birthday in January.

We both always wanted to go to Las Vegas and the day before my birthday, she told me

If we can’t go to Las Vegas, we will bring Las Vegas to us.

We called up some friends and explained to them the situation, they must of called some friends because we had a big party, seemed the whole town was there. Anyway I’m getting ahead of myself. We all put in money, went to party city and bought as much as we could. Someone rented some machines, and also rented a casino, where they bring the games to you.

We started maybe about 2 in the afternoon, and by 6 it was a full house. One of our friends decided to put a donation jar around all the games and we must have made well over what we spent. There were so many people that we moved everything to the back yard. I had so much fun, and met so many people since they put a birthday hat on me. I even met a guy that we been dating since my trip to Home Vegas.

My friends told me they should have surprised me, but I am glad they didn’t. I liked the fact that I was involved. It was the best birthday ever. I would tell you much more, but what happens in Home Vegas, stays in Home Vegas.Amanda - Amarillo, TX

My perfect gift experience must have been on my 42 birthday. I am married with 1 daughter and I knew they were up to something. It was a Saturday and I worked till 4 p.m.

I was expecting a nice dinner and some gifts, but they caught me by surprise. I went home and when I opened the door, the house was completely filled with balloons. It wasn’t a few, there were hundreds, you couldn’t even see the ceiling.

I walked in and saw all the strings from the balloons. They rented a helium machine and aired all the balloons. My husband, daughter, sister, and a couple of friends yelled surprise. It was a great experience. They said they’ve been working on this since I left to work and aired up as many balloons that they could. They weren’t going to stop until 4:00 p.m.

They made me a cake, we had a cookout, My husband gave me some flowers, My daughter gave me some make-up, and I received a couple more things. Later that evening, before the sun set, we all got a bundle of balloons and put it’s my birthday, or I was born this day 42 years ago, and we let them go in the open air.

After we let about 10 bundles go, we still had plenty in the house. It was different and it was nice, I’ve had very good birthdays in the past, but I really enjoyed my 42 birthday. Jen-Jen - Barre VT

My husband is not much of a creative man, but he did something that I really enjoyed and would like to share with you. We have been married for 23 years.

He made me a scrapbook for our anniversary filled with lifetime of memories. I’ve asked him if he did it himself but never gives me an answer. I don’t care if he had it done, it was the nicest thing.

He gave me the scrapbook right after dinner. It had pictures of when we were kids up to now. Full of memories from our kids being born to when they went to college.

It was amazing! We must of stayed up for hours reflecting back on our memories. There has been amazing things during our marriage and this must on top of the list.Linda Bangor Maine

It was our 8 year anniversary and I wanted to do something nice for my wife. She loves flowers but I didn’t want to just give her flowers and that would be it. I decided to buy her 8 flowers, one for every year we’ve been married.

I wanted it to be special so I decided to have them send one flower every hour for 8 hours. I went to the florist but realized it was way to expensive for the delivery. I have a friend that said he would do it for $20.

So I was set. Every hour starting at 9 a.m. he delivered a flower with a note. Notes would say how much I appreciate her. I wrote little things that she does that I love. Things that are special to me.

I delivered the last flower and told her that I love her and she means everything to me. I told her to find a babysitter and to get ready to go eat at a nice restaurant. We had a great time.

She still tells me and brags to her friends about our 8th anniversary. It was a day to remember. unknown

I was a student at the Junior High School. It was the end of the school year in 1987 and it was the Principal’s last year. He was headed into retirement. He was a very good principal.

One of the teachers came up with this silly idea but it turned out to be pretty cool. She got a roll of calculator paper, which is the width of receipt paper. I remember about 3 months before school was out he would take it to different classes and have them sign it.

Everybody signed it and wrote a couple of words on it. If you ever unrolled calculator paper, it seems that it never ends. On the last day of school we had an assembly and one of the teachers handed him the roll. He read a couple of lines, laughed, then he wondered how long it was so he rolled it across the gym.

Big mistake. It almost went across the gym but stopped half way and seemed that it still had more than half the roll. I heard it took him weeks to read it and I did receive a thank you note from him, I also heard he still has it in his trophy case at his house. I thought I’d share this experience with you. Sally - Flagstaff AZ

I have a big family. I’m the youngest of 7. One Christmas my oldest brother was a little creative.
He brought in a foot locker. Nobody new what to expect.

One of my brothers opened it up and it was full of unwrapped gifts, a pair of socks, a radio, games, razors, kitchen items, and so many other things. I didn’t know who they belonged to but then he handed us all a crossword puzzle that he had made.

He took some time on this. Whatever your answer was on the crossword puzzle, that item belonged to you. It was a good way to spend time together, it took a while but it was fun. Still till this day we talk about it and it’s been over 20 years.unknown