Sadly, everyone will be faced with the question of what to give a terminally ill loved one during holiday celebrations when the act of giving feels trivial and meaningless. Reality often strikes at these stressful moments when no online store or shopping mall is selling what you truly wish to give your loved one; a miracle.
Thankfully, others who have braved this task offer compassionate and insightful ideas to help alleviate the anxiety associated in these gifting situations. Aside from the ultimate gift of love, care and support friends and family generously offer, perhaps you’ll consider one of the following gifting suggestions.
Reach for the stars and give your loved one a gift that shines for eternity by naming a star in their honor. Once the star is named and recorded, a registry certificate is presented with an optional silver ornament or necklace engraved with the star’s name and coordinates. Star naming services offer gift packets as well which enable your loved one to name their own star.
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Create a memory box in which family and friends contribute short written notes inscribed with memories made along the way with your loved one. Some attach small, symbolic tokens to represent each noted memory. Cards and letters from friends and family recounting how their lives have been touched by your loved one may also be included.
For family and friends who enjoy writing, present them with a special journal to jot down feelings, memories, frustrations and general advice on life. Pre-printed books designed with questions in multiple categories are used as prompts to help your loved one recall specific events throughout their life which otherwise may have been forgotten. Depending on your loved one’s personality, they might create a fictional, lighthearted biography or a factual account of their life.
Portrait quilts and friendship memories quilts serve two purposes. While keeping your loved one warm, custom quilts also keep family and friends close by. For crafty folks, quilts can be designed and sewn by a group. For others, custom quilt designers are available to handle sewing and design.
Encourage your loved one to leave a video legacy for friends and family giving them the ability to visit with everyone once they’re gone. There are several organizations that offer professional living video legacy and family history video services. While this may seem more like a gift they are leaving you, you are giving them the gift of freedom to acknowledge their terminal state and interact with each one of you in terms meaningful to them.
A self-care package full of your loved one’s favorite potions and lotions, special soaps and anything that soothes them is often a welcome gift. Include coupons for a free massage or other form of therapy along with their favorite, hard-to-find delicacies.
Professionally printed family photo books with pictures, funny memories and quotable family sayings are a perfect gift for putting all of those memories in printed form to pass down through the generations. Recordable books are also popular for terminally ill parents and grandparents who worry whether their children and grandchildren will remember them.
Depending upon the spiritual beliefs of your loved one, wrap up a beautiful angel figurine, guardian angel pendant or pin to remind them angels are watching over them in the spiritual realm. Give books that narrate angel stories offering hope in the hereafter to help lighten burdens and fears.
Finally, keep traditions going by organizing gatherings your loved one can still feel a part of. Make a date with them to sign and mail greeting cards, help them make out their holiday list and offer to shop for them. Invite friends and family over to bake cookies, wrap gifts and trim the tree as you enjoy favorite holiday music together.
