Written By T. S. Hirt
Outside the snow fell silently in large fluffy flakes. Elise and her dad were spending a nice quiet moment together drawing pictures with her favorite set of colored pencils. She remembered them as one of the gifts she had gotten last year for the holidays and they had lasted her all year long.
These moments with her father had become few and far between as he worked at the local hospital in their Emergency ward and a global pandemic had demanded most of his time this year. But she relished what little time he was able to spend with her when he was home.
One day while her dad was working, Elise wanted to do something special. She knew how hard this year had been on her father and wanted to give him something that would mean more than any other gift she could possibly give, she wanted to give him a truly one-of-a-kind gift for Christmas this year.
Elise remembered the drawing she had made just the other day with her dad during their time together and got to work to make her dream a reality. With a little help from mom and mom’s credit card, Elise knew just what to do.
Christmas Day came and her father found himself lucky enough to be able to open gifts before another long day of fighting a deadly virus. They spent all morning opening their presents until there was just one left. In a small box under the tree with a tiny tag that just read, “From: Elise, To: Dad”
As he opened the box, the first thing that caught his eye was the small paper tag. In a simple font, it read ‘Customized Girl’. He wasn’t exactly sure what that was, but it didn’t matter. Pulling the gift from the box a tear came to his eye.
Inside was a regular looking coffee cup with one defining feature. Right on the front was the picture Elise had drawn with him the other day. Under the drawing were the words, ‘I love you’. He was completely overwhelmed.
As the two embraced, her father told her it was the best gift he had ever received and would use it every day at work. It would be the thing that gave him the strength to keep fighting through the toughest times. It was truly a one-of-a-kind gift.
