They Cost Very Little and Mean So Much: The Best Gifts No One Bought
December 18, 2025
- Author
- Mary Elizabeth DeAngelis
Dinners and dog walkers after a baby鈥檚 birth.
A loaf of warm sourdough bread and a 鈥渢hinking of you鈥 card after a mother鈥檚 death.
Two young sisters鈥 coupon for an argument-free 48 hours.
A scrap book compiled by a childhood bestie.
An unexpected compliment from an admired acquaintance.
We asked the 国产福利精品推荐 community to share stories of such gifts. And while their stories varied, one thing didn鈥檛: It was the thought 鈥 and love and caring 鈥 that counted most.
These gifts brought smiles, laughter, and in some cases, the kind of tears shed when you experience genuine kindness during an extremely hard time.
If you鈥檙e still looking for last minute presents, we hope you鈥檒l find inspiration here.
For Annie Porges, a bookmark made 20 years ago by her then eight-year-old daughter, Elia Ramirez, who graduated from Davidson in 2019, holds special status. It reminds Porges, senior associate director of major gifts at Davidson, how a tiny token of love endures.
鈥淚t is a gift I have treasured all of these years,鈥 Porges said. 鈥淭he happy faces on the angel and snowman still move me.鈥
For Katie Germana, chief human resources officer at Davidson, the gift came in the form of a beloved canine, Godfrey. They鈥檝e been together since 2014, when she rescued him from a shelter.
The first day Germana met her dog, Godfrey, as a rescue
Godfrey in 2025
Yancy Fouch茅, the college鈥檚 director of sustainability, always looks forward to the annual arrival of a former coworker鈥檚 special holiday cookies, mailed from hundreds of miles away. The old family recipes offer another sweet source of sustenance, a friendship sustained.
Susan Cooke, who works in donor relations at Davidson, received an especially meaningful gift after the hardest year of her life. Her mom died suddenly in September of 2012. A week later, her husband, Dick, then the college鈥檚 head baseball coach, was seriously injured when a speeding drunk driver crashed into his van on I-77. His recovery was long and painful, but Susan 鈥減retty much kept it together,鈥 for him and their daughters.
The next September, near the anniversary of both events, a young colleague came to work bearing a beautiful note and freshly baked bread. Feeling a year鈥檚 worth of emotions well up, Cooke burst into tears.
鈥淭his sweet young woman gifted me not only some extremely delicious bread, but the gift of being seen and supported and loved,鈥 Cooke said. 鈥淎nd I will never forget it.鈥
