A good friend of mine called me early on the morning of her birthday, to tell me one of the presents she received.

“My ex called and told me that for my birthday, his gift to me, was forgiveness.

This sounds too ridiculous to be true, right?

Oh, it really happened…

Believe Me!

(Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent!)

Two problems with this come to mind immediately.

#1 – I know there are two sides to every story, and even with keeping an open mind, she wasn’t really the ‘bad guy’ in the break up.

#2 – Surely, if he was being sincere in his desire to acknowledge her birthday in some way, he could have sent her flowers, a gift card, or at the very least a birthday card.

I stewed about it all day long.

What a nerve!

What a jerk!

What a……

BRILLIANT IDEA!

I called my friend back and told her that I was finished with giving traditional presents. I mean, how the heck many Yankee candles or gift baskets does one need? From now on, I was going to bestow upon my friends and family members, gifts that really meant something! I was already making up my mental gift list.

It looked something like this:

MENTAL GIFT LIST

~~Marge~~ Marcia– the gift of happiness

~~Leslie~~ Jan– the gift of friendship

~~Tracy~~ Cindy– the gift of ‘well wishes’

Etc…

This was going to be fantastic! Not to mention, affordable!

Wow! I couldn’t wait to see the looks on their faces when they opened up… NOTHING!

Now I was beginning to second-guess this plan…

My idea was not as brilliant as I originally thought. I mean, if I show up to next years Christmas Party with a beautifully wrapped package, which is filled with “joy” or maybe some “cheerfulness” for the gift exchange, I think I might get beaten to death by an angry mob!

Although…. the re-gifting possibilities are endless!

(The “ex” actually tried to give her the same ‘gift’ when Christmas rolled around….

Who knows how many times he’s re-gifted that ‘forgiveness!’)

I just don’t think my friends would buy into it.

I’d better stick to the original plan

Besides, the more I think about it, I’m realizing that my mental gift list is comprised of all the things that I already give to the people I care about, without it being any special occasion!

Don’t get me wrong…

I will still give those things to my loved ones,

But, I still need to get them ‘real’ presents

I guess that I’m going to have to crack open my piggy bank next month

when ~~Marge’s~~ Marcia’s Birthday rolls around!