#139 Bobbled gifts

I have written a lot in this space about the gifts that Eric has given to me and my family. I don’t think I have written so much about the gifts I gave to him. Eric was always tricky to buy for. He was into so many things and never hesitated to get himself what he wanted. Many of the things he did required equipment that was too expensive for me to get for him, so I would struggle to find the gift that would fit him the best.




The last gift my husband and I gave him might have been the best gift we ever found. We had a custom bobble head doll made from pictures that Katie took on the sly. It came out really well and of course we had it dressed in a tuxedo. (See last post)



Over the years some of the gifts I have given him included a home planetarium that projects stars onto the ceiling, an optical illusion coffee table sculpture, a set of DVDs of the television show The Office and a subscription to Wired Magazine.



Perhaps the worst gift I ever gave him was when we were kids. It’s one he never let me live down, and rightly so. It was a Chanukah gift, and I think I had actually forgotten to get him one. I was at the Temple for something and saw a box of left over yarmulkes (skull caps) from someone’s Bar or Bat Mitzvah, so I took one for him. Keep in mind that we are not a religious family. We did not regularly attend services and I don’t think that either my father or brother owned a yarmulke before this. What made this an even better (or worse) gift was that the yarmulke was purple. I think Eric was probably around 10. Purple was not a color he was into.



I don’t remember what he got me that year, but I’m sure it was better than the purple yarmulke. What can I say; at least I remembered to get him something, right? It’s the thought that counts?



I guess I deserved it when years later he got me an incredibly ugly knit hat with braids down each side. Touché, dear brother, touché.