Gifts: Where gift giving meets simplicity – back to basics

Probably one of the most common things we hear when a holiday or special occasion rolls around is “What do you want?” followed by “I don’t know”, or “I don’t care.” I’m sure, like the rest of us, you have those few people in your life that are just difficult to buy a gift for. You spend hours going from store to store to try and find the gift that is just right, and at the end of the day, you’ve found something, but still, it’s just not “the gift”. When it comes to the military, family member or friend, I’m sure you’ve also heard, “thank you” followed by “I’m just doing my job.” , this adds yet another degree of difficulty when shopping. What do you get for someone that’s “just doing their job”? Without realizing it, sometimes we make gift giving a lot more complex than it really has to be.

Clothing and Gear

True, each person has a personality of his or her own. Each of us has our own style, color preferences, likes and dislikes. One thing, I’m sure we could all agree on though is that we’d love any gift as long as it came from the heart. As a family member and friend of our armed forces, I know what it’s like to have concern for a loved one while they are far from home. We aren’t sure of their living conditions, nor do we know what kind of condition their PPE (personal protective equipment) is in. To some, this makes it even more difficult to buy a gift. Now is when the simplicity comes in. Take it back to the basics, get them what they need. Stationed around the world, a hero always needs to be prepared. If you know their shoe size or clothing size, get them a pair of boots or tactical clothing, working so hard every day, they can never have enough, and you never know what could happen. By getting them a simple pair of socks or a layering shirt, you’re telling them that you want to help them be prepared for whatever they may have to face. You may also want to think about getting them a duffle bag or maybe a tactical knife.

Things for the home and the wheels

The military no doubt likes to move people around from base to base and house to house. Unless you live off base, in most military housing allotments or apartments, you are not allowed to make any huge differences to your new place of residence. Just like all of our heroes, all of the housing is ‘dressed’ the same, so when buying a gift for the home of our military personnel, you may want to find something to give their new place a little uniqueness. Fitting with their personality, you have many options here. For example: if your loved one is in the Navy, or has a veteran family member of the Navy, you might think about getting a picture of his or her ship along with a frame. If he or she likes to entertain, you may want to think about a set of coasters, glasses or dishes. We all know how boys can be with their toys, so why not get a vehicle graphic? This will spice up the ride a little bit and give them a chance to show off to the civilians around town their pride of serving our country.

Remember when shopping, that these gifts, with the exception of maybe combat boots, can be given to fellow supporters as well, to help them show their military pride. No matter what the gift is, if it comes from the heart, it will be kept in the heart. If after you’ve gone through page after page of products, you still haven’t found “the gift”, well, the perfect gift you’re left with is a gift card. Gift cards are the perfect size, color, shape, need and want.