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Not all seniors are living on a fixed income. Some seniors have planned ahead appropriately for retirement and are enjoying the fruits of their labor.
This angle makes gift gifting challenging, too. They have enough money to buy anything that they want. So, what do you do?
This is the dilemma that I run into with my parents on gift giving occasions. I give them somethings that money cannot buy, as well as somethings, they would never think to purchase.
I invite them over for a dinner, no cooking or cleaning required. I bring my kids over to their house for a visit, we bring food with us, or prepare it in their home, cleaning everything up afterwords. The kids talk about their life, what makes them happy, how they keep busy, friends, etc.
I bring unusual groceries, such as fresh organic produce from the farmer's market or specialty foods from a unique store, that you know they will enjoy.
My mother is a borderline diabetic. I found the BEST chocolate cookies at an import store. This is one of her favorite gifts. She often comments that they are the only cookies she eats that really taste like the real thing.
My mom loves flowers and plants. Something pretty to view on the table or outside of their window, that requires little maintenance.
Photos are a favorite. Get your parents together and take a three (or more) generation photo. Get them copies to display at home. Provide frames that fit with their decor, without taking up too much space.
Make memory albums. Find old pictures of all the years gone by and arrange them in a special book, maybe with old cards and mementos. Better yet put together a video. For my parents 40th anniversary we made a "This is your life video and memory book." Of course this could be done at any time, for any occasion.
We started out filming the location in which they were married, the house where my mother grew up, the house where my parents met. The house were we grew up. We put music in the background and spoke, mentioning what each site was and where. (Of course not everyone lives within driving distance from all of these places, so perhaps you could write to the chamber of commerce in their city or find a volunteer organization to take photos and send them to you of your relatives old house or favorite places to visit. This might even be a good girl/boy scout project.)
We wrote ahead of time to all of the guests at the party. We asked them to provide a story with pictures of the good times with
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