On an upbeat, less depressing note. What was the best gift you've ever received?

1. My foster mother bought me a GameCube, back when it was like $200. She wasn't required to do it and she spent her own money.
   — Cynical0wl


2. I've been horse crazy my entire life. My parents always thought I would grow out of it and so started telling me "you can have a horse when you turn 10." When I turned 10, they got me started in riding lessons. We lived in the country and had room for a horse. My dad and I built a barn together. One morning when I was 12, my dad woke me up really early in the morning and told me to get up, we had to go to the farming supply store. It was like 7AM, and we stopped at a house on our way. The house belonged to the man who owned the farming supply store and I was thinking "Man, what does Daddy need so badly that we have to wake the guy up to open the store?" He told me to go look at the man's horse while he went to talk to him. I walked out in the pasture and there was this beautiful Appaloosa gelding. I was petting him when my dad and the man walked up. Daddy asked me what I thought about him and I said he was beautiful and reminded me of a bigger version of the horse I rode in lessons. "Good, because he is yours." Apparently, my riding teacher and dad had been colluding to find me a horse that I could grow into and she had picked Fire out for me. We had to then actually go to the farming supply store to buy buckets and feed because they were delivering Fire to the house in a couple of hours. Best surprise ever!
   — thepunctuator


3. The best was probably when I was 13 and my grandmother, who hates me for being another mans child and routinely gave me insulting gifts that were basically worthless, gave me a hypercolor shirt. I was so excited to get it and she was befuddled after I was so grateful for getting some basic t-shirt. When I showed her how it changed color with temperature, she tried taking it back. I immediately put it on on and walked away.
   — Gilgie






4. A carpenter friend of mine made me a badass chair made of wood. It's almost like something a king wood sit on, seriously. The guy has got seriously good carpentry skills.
   — HonorUndRespect


5. My dad gave me a car for my 17th birthday. He didn't have a lot of money so it was a total shock out of the blue. He had found it for super cheap and fixed it up himself. I cried like a fucking baby. Still makes me smile.
   — dboyle


6. I got myself sober. Hands down the best gift I could have ever given myself.
   — Cutthechitchata-hole






7. A couple years ago I was dealing with a horrible depression and I was in the hospital for a suicide attempt. A lot of shit was going on at the time with some of my friends too in their personal life, but it was christmas and I remember it very well but they got me this [Pikachu blanket](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/2e/3b/37/2e3b37bd47be9324f21a8c91fd568015--pokemon-nintendo-fleece-blankets.jpg) and gave me this big hug saying how much they loved me and appreciate me in their life. Its literally my favorite blanket I have (I sleep with it on my bed every night) and reminds me when I'm feeling down that I have people who really do care about me.
   — Swiftzor


8. When I was little my nana bought me Optimus Prime - the original one. He was so fucking awesome. To get it for me she skipped bingo 4 weeks in a row (it was her only real entertainment, and she had little money, but she wanted me to be happy). When my dad found out HE took her and my mom to BINGO (on Christmas Day no less, while my neighbour took care of us) and then he won a "jackpot" while apparently pre-tending to be "Dobber Dick" (I can only imagine he was pretty bored). It was only a few hundred bucks, but he gave it to my nana. It was an awesome memory, plus, I got ~~to fuck~~ fucking Optimus Prime!
   — billbapapa


9. A cat
   — Junonx






10. A pair of hand-carved bookends - one of Mozart, the other of Beethoven. They hold up my collection of music books on the shelf.
    — Back2Bach


11. NES with the orange zapper. What was even better was the fact that my parents accidentally gave me the package with the games first, so it was like a fun little spoiler. Games were Zelda, Skate or Die and Dragon Warrior.
    — followthepull


12. My grumpy, hot tempered (think Gordon Ramsey) husband interrogated me about insipid Peeps. He demanded to know what the appeal was. I have a running joke with some pals around Peeps. He has been persuaded to drive me hither and yon to deliver peeps. He's noticed that my work lanyard is emblazoned with Peeps. He needed to know if there were different animals and whether they were only available on holidays. Why did I give them out when I didn't eat them, did I have a favorite color. But, imagine all these questions coming out of Gordon Ramsey's mouth during an episode of Hell's Kitchen. He came home and asked me to come into the bedroom. He got me a pink peep bunny keychain. I.lost.my.mind! I ran over screaming like I'd just been selected to be on the Price is Right. I was waving my arms and everything. I jumped up and down like an idiot. He shot me the look he gave me when we decided to get married. I had to have a few surgeries this year. He lobbied to have my peep come with me. I was okay with it not coming because I'm an adult. But, apparently when friends were visiting me afterward I wanted to show off the peep. He's got a passion for keeping the peep fluffy and clean. He loves my dorkiness. I love this peep so much. I love it even more the iPhone he got me. I had cracked the screen on my phone so he bought me an upgrade because "I can't have you out there playing Poe-Kee-Man on a cracked screen. You'll hurt your little fingers." The peep is so cute. I also haven't lost my keys since I've had it.
    — lavasca






13. When my husband and I got married my parents gave us $20k for a down payment on our house.
    — foamymorningpuke


14. Homeless man gave me money after asking me for some. My car had just been stolen and I moved into a crappy apartment that allowed me to walk to college/my job. I was flat broke and told him why. As I walked off he reached in my back pocket, turned out he was trying to put a $10 bill in there. I refused but he insisted, gave me a hug and said "that's how it works man, we gotta look out for each other". It was only $10, but the whole experience was the best gift I ever received.
    — willengineer4beer


15. The gift of life! ^^haha^^kill^^me
    — DaBoyT