As we prepare to close out a year like no other with a holiday season like no other, it’s a good time to think about the meaning of gifts and what’s behind them. It’s often said that it’s the thought that counts.
But the point of a gift — or one point, surely — is to give substance to thoughts we might otherwise struggle to convey, or not be present to express. Moreover, gifts, because they are tangible things, have a duration that thoughts can’t, by their nature, achieve.
A person, even a loved one, isn’t always in our thoughts. But tangible objects, given as gifts, animate our surroundings with the presence of the people who gave them in the most remarkable and persistent way. Most of us, I think, would say that our most valued possessions are of this character. The gifts that keep on giving are the always ones that come with something of the giver attached.