Ich würde dir gerne ein Geschenk kaufen, aber ich habe kein Geld. (Translation: I would like to buy you a present but I haven't got any money.)
I was going through the German Words of the Day that have accumulated in my feed (I am using FeedDemon 2.7 synchronized with my Google Reader account, although I'll be upgrading the program in a little while) and came across that sentence, which reminded me of the coming festivities in about two months' time (by the way, I came across a funny observation about this occasion via an overly understated (and uber less than satisfactory) cake for Christmas).
I've never had many occasions to think of what to give during celebrations such as this or birthdays. It is explained by the fact that my parents never really bothered to honor the tradition of gift-giving especially to others. It's because of their overly thrifty nature (and of course, since we're the kids, much of those have also been passed on to us) that Christmas is celebrated at our home with heaps of food and gifts only for the children (meaning I and my siblings), for why would they give things to others when we ourselves are lacking so many things. As for birthdays, I think I have gotten away with not giving any gifts to my friends, well, because usually, parties are never in order when the mandatory getting-old day comes around. Maybe when I was still younger than grade three, and parties were still the norm that I still got to go to parties and probably, my mom also had to buy gifts. After that, I can't remember anymore instances when I had to give gifts (except the usual exchange gifts tradition during school Christmas parties which is still quite different from what I want to talk about). As for debut parties, as far as I can remember, only been in one, so that's about it.
So there's the history of gift-giving in our family. I would love to receive gifts though (which, now I realize, is the reason why the one of the more expensive parties my family planned was not well-attended). And every Christmas, we still do from some of our cousins' families (hi Tita Cora, hi Tita Tessie). But my thoughts today lie on the time when you have to think of the people you're giving a gift to, and then thinking of something appropriate to give them. And then there's the actual search for the aforementioned things, and if you fail to come up with a list of things to buy, you have to be creative (flexible?) enough to realize that what you're looking at during your frantic search for something appropriate is indeed the one.
I think it's nice that someone is thinking about you before the festivities are over, digging (usually not so deeply) into your personality or the experiences you've been through together, to be able to come up with something that he/she thinks you would appreciate. There's the beauty of gift-giving. Someone reminiscing good memories, a token given to the person in the aforementioned memories to show appreciation, and the receiver, grateful, with another good memory to include in her growing milestones/memories storage. It doesn't matter how expensive or how small the gift is, but just the thought that that someone actually cared enough to give you something makes you feel flattered (hehe), appreciated, and in the best cases, loved.
P.S. It's still too early for Christmas, but the coming of December signifies hope for better things. Hopefully, most everyone has at least recovered by then, I have gotten myself together, and the Filipinos are looking towards 2010 with healthier mindsets. Of course, I do have a tangible wishlist (Christmas or otherwise) that any person with a kind heart is welcome to fulfill. I'll think about it so that the final list shall be manageable :D
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