Gifts That UpLift!

The most meaningful presents may not come wrapped in shiny paper or frilly ribbons.They’re the ones that lighten your spirit, ignite your imagination, and ease your troubled mind. Here, in the season of generosity, tales from O’s friends and family about the greatest gifts of all.

- Ryo Takemasa

I was living in California when I found out my grandmother had congestive heart failure and wasn’t expected to pull through. She was one of my best friends— I’d lived with her when my dad was overseas in the army. I always felt like her arms were around me, that I could say anything to her.

I made it to Illinois in time to be there the day she died. When I went to her home to go through her belongings, I found a glass canning jar of pickled beets in the fridge with my name written on the label. I hadn’t been back there for some time, but I think she somehow knew I’d be with her at the end of her life. I sat down, crying, and ate the whole jar. —JUDY BISSEY, O READER, SAN RAFAEL, CALIFORNIA

Back in 2004, I was at the University of Vermont, thousands of miles from my family in Johannesburg, and severely depressed. I was grieving my mom’s death, but I was so determined to succeed in school that none of my friends even knew I was struggling. One day after work, my roommate relayed a phone message. When I tearfully called the number, my paternal aunt answered. She sensed that what I needed was home. Though she’s an educator and didn’t earn heaps of money, she found a way to buy me a plane ticket back to Johannesburg for winter break.

She gave me that gift without asking what was wrong or why I was crying, and for three weeks I had the pleasure of eating home-cooked meals, playing with my baby cousins, and travelling in my home country to refuel my spirit and replenish my heart. There are still many days when I think back and realize that with one act of kindness, my aunt allowed me to experience joy again. —“TEPSII” THENDO TSHIKORORO, O READER, PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA