When I was thrift shopping yesterday, I kept coming across things that once held so much sentiment that were just tossed into piles of junk. In addition to the occasional anniversary gifts and monogrammed hand towels, I saw so many sweet things made specifically for other people who didn't appreciate them.
The picture above is of a pillow that a girl named Laura made for her friend Jennifer's birthday. According to this pillow they met on the diving team and even though they had had their differences in the past, they were going to be BFF's forever. The back had some sort of prayer, possibly a song? This really thoughtful and personal gift probably took Laura hours to make. It isn't easy to write legibly in puff paint. So why did Jennifer dispose of it? Are they not friends anymore? Or is Jennifer and ungrateful little witch?
The picture below ir a sketch a child made, possibly for a parent or grandparent? All that it said on the back was "Age 8", there wasn't a name of anything. But again, the child poured their tiny heart and soul into this little drawing and even took the time to make little glitter swirls around the subject. I understand that the child grew up, or maybe the recipient passed away but this picture was important enough to be framed, why wasn't it important enough to keep?
Seeing these sorts of things among torn sweaters and rusted tea kettles felt like a hot knives in the pit of my stomach! As someone who makes things things so often and gives handmade gifts almost exclusively, this was a huge blow to my ego. Have we lost our sentiment? Is a handmade gift really the equal of a used bread machine? Am I over reacting?
How do you feel about giving/receiving handmade gifts? How do you assess the "quality" of a handmade gift? Are people really this heartless?
<3
Robbie
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