April is an odd month to write about giving gifts.  Usually, I reserve this topic for the holiday marathon we all go through in the fourth quarter each year.  But the reality is that we give gifts all year–birthdays, anniversaries, milestone achievements and of course, the many “other” holidays we are called upon to memorialize with a gift.  (Note to my dear daughters: Mother’s Day is right around the corner.)

Our first impulse on any of those occasions is to head to the store to buy something, wrap it and proudly deliver it to the person of honor.  Maybe it’s time to think about gift giving differently. Would you rather have another sweater, gift card or tchotchke? Or some uninterrupted quality time to spend with the people you care about?

I began to ponder this during a recent mega gift-giving moment in the life of my own family: The celebration of my father-in-law’s 90th birthday. Continue reading