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Another wonderful entry! Hmmm, best gift I've ever given: Both my lovely wife and I thought of the easy answer - our kid. But we decided that was ineligible because we couldn't figure out which of us deserved more credit. Her argument that 39 hours of labor should mean she gets it, but I said that was just the luck of evolution and why should I be punished simply because nature decided millions of years ago the female should deliver the offspring. So, rather than fight about what is such a lovely blog, I've decided to go with a toss-up. There's a peach blouse I bought my lovely wife just a few months after we started dating. I was in Wisconsin visiting family and I saw it in a store and it just seemed like her. It was the first real gift I ever gave her, and I think it made her feel like the relationship was becoming a significant one, which, it turned out, it was! Then there's the engagement ring I finally bought her, fifteen years after we met. We'd been pretty broke those first few years and I'd finally started building a career. And what was even cooler was that our son, who was only about four or five months old, came along in his little baby carrier. The jeweler laid out the stones on the counter and my lovely wife picked one out as our adorable son stared up, fascinated at the lights in the office. That was a great day. You didn't ask but best present I ever GOT was hands down, my 60th birthday, when my lovely wife arranged a party in the bleachers at a double header of my now big handsome son's high school baseball team; because of work I rarely got to see him play but this one I got to. He pitched one game and caught the other. They won both games and he got the game ball in the game he pitched. Which he presented to me. And I still have it.

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That was a fun game!

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Love this!

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The best gift I have ever given anyone would have to be judged by the recipients so I'll also mention the best gift I've ever received. Ironically, like my friend Steve, my best one was for my 60th birthday. Knowing my love of all things automotive, my friend Sandy and members of my family gave me a day of race car driving lessons with a former Indy 500 driver. It was on a real road course race track where I spend my day learning how to put my own car through the rigorous training process. It was a gruling but incredibly rewarding experience. As an aside, the "free" driving lesson cost me a both a set of tires and a set of brakes on my car. Worth every penny!

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oh wow that is SO COOL!

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One of the best parts of gift giving is the wrapping, I swear! I love getting supplies to make them look professionally wrapped and then they look so pretty sitting under the tree💚 I honestly cannot think of the best gift I’ve ever given, but I know you love that tie clip from our first Christmas!

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I love it so much!! And also I think it’s funny that one of the best gifts I’ve ever gotten you was a rice cooker on Valentine’s Day…and everyone thought i was crazy!

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So true, Will. AS you get older, the giving takes sway over the getting. Wait til you have kids, if you choose to; oh then it is REALLY fun!

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That does seem fun but then they rip through the gifts in 2 minutes flat and it’s all over!

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You are a spectacular shopper - well thought out ideas for mom and "kids" alike. Bless you for your careful shopping for highlight vs. bronzer - I have no idea what they are but your girlfriend looks fabulous with your choices. She smells nice too!

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You are wise beyond your years. Confuse the gift recipient whenever possible

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absolutely, put boxes inside of boxes inside of bags. Never let them know your next move

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I think one of the best gifts I gave was to Steven. When he first started writing with Gary I bought him a self-correcting electric typewriter. It had a screen the size of a cigarette and you could go back, maybe 3 or 4 words and change them if you needed to. It was very high tech at the time!

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ooooo I bet it weighed a ton and cost a fortune!

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I love giving presents. Just the right one. Suprising people. On the other hand, after years that it took me to learn, my wife wants to ask for what she wants. That's no fun -- except anything that makes her happy makes me happy. And half the time she forgets anyway.

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It's always nice when you can get that main gift that you know they'll love (because they asked for it) because then you can surround it with a few gifts that are more of a shot in the dark and not worry if they love them or hate them

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