For a relative who has everything... give them a miracle gadget.

If you are like me, you have at least one relative that when it comes time to buy a birthday or Christmas present you just dread the mere thought of it because they truly-without exaggeration-have everything. Whether it is because they have lived long enough to acquire all of life’s necessities, have amassed enough personal wealth that they want for nothing or because they live a simple life devoid of frills and luxuries that many others would term necessities… there’s just nothing they need.

I was standing in a gas station convenience mart recently in Oklahoma waiting for my youngest to take care of some business (of the #2 variety). I was meandering up and down the aisles checking out the usual fare… corn nuts, Twinkies, Skittles and… what’s this? No way!

I cannot believe my eyes. Finally! The gift I have been searching for; a gift for the person who has everything. God works in mysterious ways. When you are in a position to be least expecting of a miracle… one is bestowed upon you. This gift was, indeed, a gift that had to come from heaven for no mere mortal could have mustered the intelligence, the creativity, the sheer brilliance required to invent such a device.

This was the kind of rare find that you come across once in a lifetime. I instantly thought I have to have this… In fact, I want a dozen of them. I’ll send them to all my friends. I’ll become an instant hit… and hero. Maybe I’ll even tell them I invented it. No, that would be sacrilegious. The credit would have to go to God for this one.

Unfortunately, there was only one. I could understand why. Surely they sell out of them as quickly as they are stocked, for who could be without one? As I approached the register with my prize find, guilt overwhelmed me. What was I doing? How could I buy this and deny the privilege of its ownership to someone truly much needier than my relative who already has everything. So I put it back on the shelf… but not before I took a picture of it first for I knew that no one… not even my most loving family nor my most loyal friends would believe I ever came across this miraculous creation.

If you must have one, you’ll have to search it out on your own. I have taken an oath of silence that I will never reveal where it was enshrined.

(Scroll down to the next post to see the picture.)