Tag: presents

When I’m Sixty-Four

We’ve reached the time of year when we abide by an unwritten rule: It’s no longer appropriate to say Happy New Year!  We’re well past the first week of 2026 so quit thinking the year is still “new” already. On the other hand, it’s entirely appropriate to say Happy Birthday!  Today happens to be the birthday of yours truly, as it has been for the past sixty-four years. I now find myself squarely between “Early Sixties” and “Medicare Eligible”, which sparks a wide variety of thoughts. Including a song by The Beatles.

Here’s a contradiction I wrestle with every birthday.  I am celebrating 64 years but it’s actually my 65th birthday.  If you don’t count the very first one (when you turn “0”) you’re effectively removing the first year of your life from the equation.  64 equals sixty-four years of my existence.  But 64 also means my sixty-fifth birthday.  Get it?  I didn’t think so.

YAY for German chocolate cake!

Birthday are traditionally celebrated with presents and cake, and both made their appearance yet again this year.  I keep telling my wife and kids no presents, because in our sixties we finally learn we have almost everything we need (and need almost nothing we have).  On the other hand, I will never turn down birthday cake, especially when the choice of flavor is mine to make.  German chocolate – heavy on the coconut if you please.

My birthday is also the perfect reason to recall my late father.  He was born the very next day (well, the very next day thirty-three years before).  If my mother could’ve held on for another couple of hours Dad and I would’ve shared the same birthday.  Not that I ever blamed her for choosing January 22nd.  I’m sure the last thing she cared about back then was the clock.  But at least she got a kind of two-fer in that Dad and I celebrated our birthdays together every year.

Love me some Norman Love

Our financial advisor makes a nice birthday gesture every year with the colorful assortment you see here.  These beautiful chocolates – handcrafted by Florida-based Norman Love Confections – are too pretty to eat.  Having said that I can assure you the entire box will be empty by early February.  Yes I realize this “gift” is really just me buying myself a birthday present, since it comes out of the profits of my own investments.  But at least there are profits…

My birthday is also a reminder I fall under the sign of Aquarius (barely).  An Aquarius is described as intellectual, independent, and humanitarian.  I happily embrace all three even if I regularly fall short in all three as well.  On the other hand, Aquarius is the water-bearer.  In the thirty-odd years my wife and I have been homeowners we’ve been plagued with every form of water disaster imaginable.  Drips, leaks, mold, flooded basements, overflowing retention ponds – you name it.  Would it surprise you to know an ice storm is headed our way in the next few days?

Finally we have The Beatles; or at least, Paul McCartney.  McCartney, who turned 83 last June, wrote the merry tune When I’m Sixty Four when he was only fourteen.  The lyrics include musings about his life fifty years on, but really the song’s just a silly rant about a time he couldn’t possibly foretell.  (At least he thought to include “Dave” in the lyrics.)  If I could meet McCartney in person I’d love to ask him, Hey, was it really like the song suggested nineteen years ago?  Even if it wasn’t I’ll bet he’d take age sixty-four back in a heartbeat.

We make wishes when we blow out birthday candles (even at my post-middle-pre-senior age).  Such was the case again this year on top of my German chocolate cake.  What did I wish for?  I’ll never tell, at least not unless the wish comes true.  But I will admit to one distraction while I was huffing and snuffing those candles.  There were only sixty-four on my cake.  I’m thinking there should’ve been sixty-five.

The Give-and-Get Machine

This Christmas season, by tidy coincidence, our family’s Twelve Days of Christmas will give to us six family members, Five Gold Rings, four restaurant dinners, three neighborhood gatherings, two Christmas concerts, and a downtown parade of horses, dogs, and Santa. As if that’s not enough “get” this year, we’ll also have a couple dozen presents under the Christmas tree… most processed through the Give-and-Get Machine.

I’ll get to the Machine in a minute but let’s start with the exception.  In early October I walked into a local retailer, picked out a gift for my wife, and handed over a credit card.  In exchange, the clerk handed over my purchase in a small paper bag.  I took it home, wrapped it myself, and – two months later – placed it lovingly under the Christmas tree.  If you’re thinking, Man you went to a lot of trouble, Dave – I sure hope your wife appreciates it, then you, my friend, are a product of the Machine.

What is the Give-and-Get Machine?  It’s technology’s approach to gifting.  When you choose to give a gift this year, nine times out of ten you’ll plop down on the couch, open your laptop, and navigate to your favorite e-commerce website.  If you don’t know what to give, you can choose between “Last Minute Deals” or “Top Picks for You” (based on previous spending).  Once you decide, you’re probably less than five clicks from the finish line, especially if your recipient is in your “Address Book” and you’ve already stored your personal information.  Add to shopping cart, choose delivery address, confirm purchase, and you’re done.  But wait!  You can also add gift wrapping and a message for a few more pennies.  Well now, aren’t you the savvy gift-giver!

The convenience of the Give-and-Get Machine is undeniable.  After all, my purchase in October meant a one-hour roundtrip drive, to a shop where I may or may not have found something.  Add another fifteen minutes once I got home to wrap the gift and add the To:/From: tag.  You, meanwhile, accomplished the same “task” in maybe ten minutes, with a mug of hot chocolate and a few keystrokes from the comfort of your kitchen table.

“Task” is the operative word in the last paragraph.  Gifting should spring from the heart instead of the Task app of your smartphone, right?  Gifting should be a choice, not a chore.  Perhaps those of us who default to the easy-out Give-and-Get Machine are missing out on the real meaning of Christmas.

Admittedly, the Give-and-Get Machine includes some really nifty apps.  If you’ve ever used Gift Hero (“The Best Wish List Ever”) you know what I mean.  GH is the perfect solution for the family that exchanges gifts but has reached the age (or proximity) where no one knows what to get each other.  On GH each of you creates wish lists and the lists are shared with everyone else.  Once you choose a gift from another GH list it’s marked as “taken” to avoid duplicates.  Most gifts are hyperlinked to merchant websites for easy purchase, and you can add notes like color, size, and quantity.  Also, GH blocks you from knowing what has been taken from your own list by whom, so the element of surprise remains.

There’s an endless debate with apps like GH.  I mean, let’s be honest, it’s easy to skip any and all effort to be thoughtful about what somebody wants for Christmas when you have their list right in front of you.  On the other hand, you avoid the occasional embarrassing face-to-face exchange, where the recipient insists I love it when in fact they really don’t, and will probably regift it next Christmas.

Ultimately, the almighty dollar may be the decider between a gift from a store or the Give-and-Get Machine.  My wife and I found a nice assortment of books and toys for our Colorado granddaughters this year, at stores we visited both near and far.  We wrapped them all up, put them in a large box, and drove down to the post office.  The clerk measured the box and its weight and informed me the shipment “had to go by plane” instead of anything cheaper.  The cost was more than my annual subscription to Amazon Prime.

Maybe I shouldn’t be so critical of the Give-and-Get Machine after all.