The Gift That Keeps On Giving

By Stacy A. Colombo

            Ahhh…the holiday season.  Always my favorite time of year.  The weather turns cooler, the leaves change and fall and the spirit of giving is in the air.  I long for those days when the family comes over and we eat until it’s unbearable and catch up on stories that we’ve missed since the last time we saw each other.  It’s so peaceful.  It’s so relaxing.  It makes me wish that I could have this sensation all year long.  But then I realize that my family and I can have these days all year long.  Sure, the outside atmosphere may not be exactly the same all year long, but the memories and the spirit of the holidays will always live on through writing.

            As a final class assignment my sophomore year of college, we had the opportunity to compile a chapbook of our favorite poems that we’ve written throughout the year.  The sky was the limit as far as the layout was concerned.  So I took advantage of the freedom.  I downloaded pictures for the cover and bound the pages together with white wire ribbon.  I filled my chapbook with poems of love, family and childhood memories.  When my project was returned to me at the end of the Fall semester, I made the decision to give my chapbook to my family as a Christmas gift.  And they claim it was the best gift I could’ve given them!

            And so, I pose the same idea to you, my dear readers.  Consider the non-traditional gift this holiday season.  You can follow the same route I followed by creating a handmade chapbook filled with poems.  But, that is not the only way to go about a unique gift; there are plenty of different options that you may not have even considered.  Consider this, a homemade greeting card with a poem or a unique (yet meaningful) line from a non-fiction piece on the cover.  You can choose to use your own personal drawings for the cover or you can substitute clipart or even family photos.

            Another fun alternative could be, for all you scrapbooking buffs, creating scrapbook pages.  Write little snippets or photo captions about a time when you and the members of your family had a unique encounter, no matter if it’s silly or sad.  Don’t get me wrong; you can still fill you scrapbook pages with poems or creative pieces as well.  By doing this you are able to relive years of memories in a small block of space.  And even though the holiday season is bound to pass, you can still relive those special moments whenever you choose.  All you have to do is pull out the scrapbook!

            On that note, why try to fight the busy holiday traffic at the malls when you can create a gift with more thought and sentimental value right in the comfort of your own home!  No more worries about gift receipts, correct sizes, and whether or not the gift will be a hit or end up in a box in the basement somewhere.  So, do yourself a favor; curl up in front of your fireplace with a piping hot cup of hot cocoa and a journal and bring your words to life for all to read!  It will be the hit of the holiday season because gifts from the heart never fail.