How to Select Unexpected Christmas Gifts: The Secret is to Listen with Your Heart

Some people enjoy giving gifts and are very good at picking out just the right gift for the right person. While I love to give gifts, choosing the right one has never been my strong suit. But after half a century of selecting gifts, I've stumbled onto a few helpful ideas.

I can remember through the years some times when the choices I made were downright disastrous. There was a time many years ago when my husband was having problems with his back and feet. Since he has never been one to give any hints or suggestions on anything he might like to receive for Christmas, I've always been forced to try to come up with something suitable.

That year I thought a back massager and a foot spa would be just the things he'd enjoy. On Christmas morning when he opened his gifts, the expression on his face was not one of joy. While he would never say he didn't like a gift, the fact that he never, ever used them spoke louder than words. He later let it slip that it made him feel so OLD to receive such health-related products. I'll never make that mistake again!

This past summer, at the age of 69, he bought a new motorcycle. That should tell me and anyone else looking to buy him a gift, that he wouldn't be interested in anything that shouts "OLD" when he unwraps his presents. I offered to buy leathers for him for Christmas, assuming he would appreciate the extra protection when riding his motorcycle. He was horrified. "Don't you dare!" he said.

"What would people think of an old man like me running around on a motorcycle in black leathers? I only wear the helmet so people won't know who I am." So scratch that. Seems he doesn't want to think "old" but doesn't want to look like someone trying to appear younger than he is. And men say women are hard to figure out! I guess I'll get him a GPS unit so he won't get lost while riding his motorcycle around in the mountains. Hopefully that would be a gift that isn't age-specific.