Gift Basket suggestions for 89 year old

[brandyII 9]

This is completely off the wall, but I have the hardest time sending my husband's uncle gifts. Last Christmas sent him a really soft blanket. I think he's going to be 89 this year and he's like a father to my husband and me too.

Normally he likes cheeses and things from one of those catalog places but I kind of wanted to find a nicer one than I normally send him. You know they look good in the catalog but the cheese is really small etc...

He likes food baskets but didn't want to over do it, meaning give him too much that will go to waste but get something of a nice quality if anyone has suggestions, I shop a lot on the net, thanks brandyII.

[georgia girl 35]

I never order gift baskets online. I find them to be way over priced for such a small amount of product. I always make my own. You can find good looking baskets for a decent price and fill it up with whatever you want.

What kind of food does he like, other than cheese?

[brandyII 9]

Georgiagirl,

Thanks for the reply.

He lives far away and has always enjoyed those cheese/candy type baskets in the past. If you ask him what he wants he'll say nothing. I know he also likes tabloids and TV but maybe you're right maybe I could just put together my own for him. I have no idea if he needs new potholders or weird things like that. He's not a very social person but a very nice person and as you can see he's 89 years old and I guess I'm worried this may be his last birthday.

[Kat817 19]

What about one of the monthly delivery things? My cousins send them to my folks every year. They chose fruit, and each month a small box of fruit---different things, get delivered.

Is he where you can go see him ---or does it have to be sent? What is his living condition? Alone? In a home?

Is he able to communicate at will? Like using a pre paid phone card, so he could call without it costing him?

My former FIL was in a nursing home here, and although his son and I divorced, he was still my DD's Grandpa, and was an amazing man! We took 2 coffee cans, and covered them with wrapping paper to make them look pretty, and each time we went up to the home he was in, we took it---she learned to bake Cookies so we could take them to Papa Mac. We would drop off a can and bring the other home to have to fill for next time. In over 2 years that we did this only a couple of times was there something left in the can, and we went each week!!! I think he felt comfortable sharing the wealth since he knew we would bring more!!!

He also loved pictures----both snapshots, and ones drawn by the kids.

Mostly what he loved was the time we spent with him---so if that is an option, I would bet he would feel the same. If the choice is to order a basket, or go for a quick visit---I bet he would like seeing y'all more!!

Kat

[StaceyM 0]

Make him a basket and put different non-perishable foods in it. Hickory Farms meats and cheeses, crackers, some sweets. My grandfather always loved if we would get him different jams and syrups. We always went to the Amish store to find unusual flavors.

Also, since he is elderly he probably gets cold so how about adding a nice pair of slippers? If he likes tabloids then go pick up one of each that is current and give him a lot to read. My grandmother was very in to the word search puzzles and they make those in jumbo print in case his eyesight isn't so good.

At work we always adopt a person from a local nursing home every year for Christmas and I know they always want new PJs and also suggest lotions. As you age your skin becomes very dry so a good moisturizer is very soothing.

One more suggestion: my mom made my grandfather a small flip photobook of our family through out the years.

Edited April 28, 2008 by StaceyM

[Wheetsin 714]

If he enjoys food gifts, Harry & David have the *best* treats. I've also had good luck with Mrs. Field's, in terms of the items being represented accurately online. The only place I know of with sausage and cheese specifically is Hickory Farms, and I've never cared much for their products.

For non-food items, I usually to go Red Envelope. They're high, but the have a sale/clearance section with some great deals.

On a different note, my grandmother is in her 80s and she really enjoys getting practical gifts. Carwash certificates, grocery store or gas station gift cards (she doesn't have much money), maid service, restaurant gift cards, yard service (applications or mowing, she likes them both equally), etc. Basically the things that give her an opportunity to do something she couldn't do on her own.

[brandyII 9]

Kat,

He lives alone in a trailer park about 15 hours away. He normally visits relatives twice a year but has prostate cancer and has gotten where he's too tired to drive that distance any more. He's really a loner of sorts and I'm not sure if a monthly plan may be too much for him. I don't know. He does have some relatives that visit him that live within a half hour so he's not completely alone out there.

I actually lived with his sister, my mother-in-law for two years, I know but I was working, pregnant and my husband was still in school and we were in a roach infested apartment and she took us in so that our baby, who is no baby now wouldn't have to live with roaches as her pets. Anyway, he would stay with her twice a year for two month increments so that's why we became very close.

I've never been to his trailer and never invited but last Christmas I sent him one of those nice thick soft blankets from JC Penney in beige hoping he probably needed a new one, you know how men are about shopping.

He's a great guy and I want to send him something but of course he won't tell me he wants or needs anything so I basically try to guess. He's probably lost more weight and needs smaller clothes and his sister isn't very helpful when it comes to suggestions either! I'm afraid if I sent him fruit he may let it rot.

Maybe I'm asking the impossible, lol, he is a bit difficult that's why I'm pulling together all my forum buds for resources, I need help! I'm kind of affraid he's not long for this world because of his age and cancer and the signs are coming so I want him to know he's loved and appreciated and that's really the only way I can show it now.

Thanks for your help Kat, I wish we could visit him but he's weird about that, but I swear he's a great guy! Nancy (I could bake him Cookies, but I've been really good this week, I might have to sacrifice for him though!,lol.Nancy.

[Wheetsin 714]

Maybe I'm asking the impossible, lol, he is a bit difficult that's why I'm pulling together all my forum buds for resources, I need help! I'm kind of affraid he's not long for this world because of his age and cancer and the signs are coming so I want him to know he's loved and appreciated and that's really the only way I can show it now.

What about something like paying for a photography studio session, and arranging pick-up and drop-off for him so he doesn't have to drive if it tires him. You can get him a nice outfit for the picture (I like the coordinated outfit family pics), and take him to lunch afterward. Then when the pics are ready, you buy him a print, plus you have the picture/memory to last after he's no longer around.

I di dthis with my grandfather, who was battling a tumor wrapped around his heart. I'm so glad I did. He had a great day with the family "on me", got a nice family pic to keep at his house, and the rest of us got the pic, memories, etc.

[brandyII 9]

Wheetsin,

I was looking at Harry and David too, so far that was my best choice but I wasn't sure if there were other stores out there that I just didn't know about. He's used to getting stuff from Hickory and Swiss Colony. I'll look into Mrs. Fields, I sent them to my sister-n-law while was taking care of her dying mother last week, too many dying lately around me! Anyway they had muffins and Cookies and brownies in their basket. Thanks for the gift certificate ideas too, I thought about a gas card. Once we sent him a gift certificate to Sears and he sent it back. He's not traveling anymore so I then started sending the restaurant cards to his sister so that she could get carryout for him on his birthday but he doesn't see her anymore because of his health.

I know I've made this almost an impossible task but I really appreciate everyone's input, thanks, Nancy.

[brandyII 9]

Wheetsin,

That was a really sweet thing you did for your grandfather. He lives really far away from us and is a loner and actually has a physical disability that makes it difficult to travel now due to bowel probs, TMI but as he's gotten older it's much worse so I don't think he'd be up for that. He normally would travel every year to visit his daughter for two months and his sister for two months simultaneously but he can't do those trips anymore. He's gotten a bit crotchety in his later years and now his sister doesn't even want him to visit! I guess it's a brother/sister thing but usually when the elderly are older that's normal especially if they're ill and in pain too but I can't explain that to her.

My daughter is a very good artist and we did get a copy of one of his last portraits that he sat for and she was going to paint it but I have a feeling it will be used for a memorial service and not as a gift.

He came to my father's funeral two years ago, the last time he was up for traveling to his daughter's home and told me afterwards that he wanted a service just like that one. It really made me sad but he seems to be in touch with his mortality now.

Anyway thanks for the help, I appreciate it Nancy.

[brandyII 9]

StaceyM,

Those are really good ideas too. I'll call his sister today, maybe I can get some info out of her about shoe sizes etc... I guess I've had so many people that I care about die recently that I kind of have to send him something to make him feel good and know that I'm care about him. I know it's not the best way but he's a loner and I know how he is and it's kind of the only way to reach him. Anyway thanks again for your help, Nancy.

[Kat817 19]

Sounds like some sort of service gift card might be fitting! Maybe someone who could come in and get his A/C running, or in the fall, service his heater, change the filter etc.

Although if he is like my FIL, he would not want strangers in his home or working on it!

Maybe an inexpensive little tabletop CD player, and a couple of books on disc. He could listen, if his eyesight is not great anymore, he could enjoy the story anyway, and you could occasionally send a new book.

He is lucky to have someone putting so much thought into something for him, and I understand you just want him to know someone does care for him that much--------I am sure on some level he knows it. My MIL went years not speaking to her 2 sisters because of some silly comment one of them made---you would think as they age they would let things go, and enjoy the time they have, but they seem to digress, and act like kids again!!! But sometimes it is easier to deal with anger than sadness....

Kat

[minpinmom 2]

A gazillion years ago I worked for Harry and David - and they do the best baskets. Very high quality foods. They also do small monthly items (truffles of the month, fruit of the month, jams, etc.)

[Wheetsin 714]

Mmmm moose munch... honey roasted chashews... choco fruits... this thread is making me hungry!

[brandyII 9]

Minpinmom,

Thanks, for your replies, I'm still trying to avoid sending him cigars and vodka, his favorite snacks! But he's still kicking at 89 so what does that tell you, good genes maybe. Oh and my "sato" from Puerto Rico looks kind of like a minpin but bigger, she's about 40+ pounds and is very skiddish!

Wheetsin, think about how hungry I get looking at all those websites!

My daughter, not the one getting surgery but older one is PMSng this week and brought home a box of Guiredelli (sp) choc brownie mix to make and I made her throw the rest out, okay I did sneak a little piece but still better than I normally would have and I counted it as a Weight Watcher couple of points too, lol. God help me and I haven't even been on this darn diet a week! brandyII