Growing up, I learned a lot of valuable lessons that have shaped who I am as a person today. They shaped how I live my life and how I treat the people around me, whether they are family, friends, customers, or perfect strangers I am sitting next to on the bus or train. However, if you were to ask me what I believe was the most valuable lesson I learned as a child, I would tell you this. I was always taught that ‘it is better to give than to receive.’
I grew up with a single mum working three jobs to keep the rent paid, the lights on, and groceries in the kitchen. She did not have much in the way of money or material things, but she had her love for me and she channelled that love into everything she ever did for me—including the gifts she bought me for my birthday and Christmas each year, as well as the Easter baskets she would make for me every year. She taught me that a gift does not have to be expensive to be loved and appreciated; it merely needs to be thoughtful and from the heart.
As a result of this valuable lesson, I started putting a lot of thought into the gifts I would choose for someone. Whether I was choosing a gift for her or one of my grandmothers, a gift for an uncle or a sibling, I would think about what I knew about them. I would think about what they enjoy doing or what we enjoyed doing together. If I was stumped, I would ask my mum for ideas, and she would help me choose the perfect gift at a price we could afford.
This is something I have carried straight into my adult life. I know what you’re thinking: ‘Who has that kind of energy? I have enough to do as it is.’ And I get it. I really do. When life is hectic and it feels like the weight of the world is on your shoulders, it can feel heavy when your mother-in-law’s birthday rolls around, or when Christmas is coming and you can’t figure out what to get your dad. Let’s face it—the older a person gets, the harder it can be to choose a gift for them. They already have everything they want and need, right? I know my mother-in-law does not want to be given anything she has to dust, and who could blame her!
While it might seem daunting to have to put a lot of thought into a gift for someone, I do have two tricks to help you. I implemented these when George and I got married and I suddenly had a family of nine other people to buy gifts for throughout each year, but I barely knew them at first.
That’s when I started keeping a list of things I would hear his family members talk about when we were together. Maybe it was something they were needing but didn’t want to spend the money on because it still felt a bit frivolous. Maybe it was something I learned about their interests or hobbies. Whatever it was, I would record it in my notes on my mobile phone, and when birthdays and Christmas rolled around, I would go straight to the list.
The second trick I started was that if I stumbled on a gift I knew one of our family members would love, I would go ahead and buy it right then and put it away in my gift drawer. Doing that meant I could spread the cost of Christmas throughout the year, and I would not be scouring shelves at the last minute trying to find what I had seen a few weeks or a few months earlier.
When the coronavirus pandemic hit and we suddenly began to see a shift in what our customers were coming to us for, George and I had some long, hard discussions about how White Orchard would adapt to meet the changing needs of our community. We decided we would lean into one of the things he loves about me: the idea that a gift does not have to be expensive to be meaningful; it just needs to demonstrate the love you have for them. It needs to be something that shows them you know who they are and what they love. With that decision made, we slowly began to adapt White Orchard and the product lines we carry to cater to that exact idea.
Now, when you come to White Orchard, you can be certain you will find a wide range of gifts at all price points. You will discover that not only can you pick up the perfect greeting card for them, but if your budget is small, you don’t have to worry about being embarrassed that something is out of reach—because we have an incredibly large collection of gifts that will fit any budget. And when the economy is as tough as it is right now, we are proud of the decisions we took all those years ago to become a boutique gift shop for the many, and not the few.