Some of the best gifts we’ve ever received for occasions are often the simplest and most enduring, given to us by family, friends, loved ones — and of course, Santa! — and remembered for a lifetime.
Or, the most memorable gifts at holiday time might be truly stunning and unexpected items we never imagined we’d actually receive.
All American Christmas, the new book by Rachel Campos-Duffy and Sean Duffy, contains a sparkling collection of stories and sentiments about gift-giving at holiday time, including this quote from Fox News Channel’s Dana Perino: “It’s a great feeling when you give the right gift to the right person.”
BEST GIFTS TO PASS DOWN THROUGH THE GENERATIONS
So just what is that “right gift”?
What’s the best Christmas gift ever received?
As we enter this year’s Christmas season, here are some of the “best gift” picks from an array of people, including Fox News personalities and others. These stories will surprise you, charm you — even move you.
‘Best gift’ choices for Christmas from Dana Perino
“One of the best gifts I ever got [as a child] was a play kitchen, complete with an oven, pots and pans,” says Dana Perino in All American Christmas. “I already had the imagination I needed to cook up delicious meals for all my dolls and stuffed-animal friends. I also had a ‘Sesame Street’ playhouse that would unfold, and I was right there with Big Bird and all the other residents hanging out on the steps of the best neighborhood in the world. It was amazing to live on a block where I could have so many friends.”
The new book ‘All American Christmas’ by Rachel Campos-Duffy, along with her husband, Fox News contributor Sean Duffy, is available now.
Dana Perino continues, “I am, still today, a list-making machine, and those toys must have been among what I’d asked for. I don’t recall any really extravagant gifts or wishes, and things like getting Bonne Bell lip balm in my stocking made me very happy. Maybe that was because of all the wind and cold in Wyoming! We also got foil-wrapped chocolates and candy canes in there, and they were a real treat.”
WHY RACHEL CAMPOS-DUFFY FEELS ‘ALL AMERICAN CHRISTMAS’ IS PERFECT GIFT FOR ANY FOX NEWS FAN
“Of course, I also love giving gifts, and when I was working on ‘The Five,’ we did a Secret Santa gift exchange,” Perino says. “The best gift I ever gave during that period was for Jesse Watters. A segment of the show was called ‘Facebook Friday,’ and someone asked us via Facebook what was one gift we really wanted at Christmas that we never received. Jesse mentioned that he’d wanted a red leather Michael Jackson jacket. I had drawn Jesse’s name and was joking that I would get that jacket for him.
“My producer Mina Pertesis managed to track one down. We gave it to Jesse, and he still says to this day that it was one of the best Christmas gifts he ever received … The mix of surprise and delight when a gift connects with someone is worth all the time and thought that goes into it.”
—Dana Perino is cohost of Fox News Channel’s “America’s Newsroom” and “The Five.” Her Christmas memories appear in All American Christmas by Rachel Campos-Duffy and Sean Duffy.
‘Best gift’ choice for Christmas from Jesse Watters
“I’d just started working at Fox’s show ‘The Five,'” says Fox News Channel’s Jesse Watters. “Dana Perino found out about my Michael Jackson obsession and, as part of our Secret Santa gift exchange, got me that jacket. It was worth the wait! Nothing could ‘beat it.’ I still have it, and it’s great to think about how thoughtful a gesture that was.”
—Jesse Watters is host of Fox News Channel’s “Watters’ World” and cohost of “The Five.” His Christmas memories also appear in All American Christmas by Rachel Campos-Duffy and Sean Duffy.
Jesse’s childhood obsession with getting a Michael Jackson jacket would finally pay off when Dana tracked it down.
More ‘best gift’ choices for Christmas from leaders, readers and more
“As a child, my favorite gift was a Magnus Chord Organ. My father was disabled and money was limited, so this was a miracle gift to me. I recall on occasions as a young girl the majestic sound of the plastic keys as I played ‘Silent Night,’ hoping to catch sight of the Star of Bethlehem in the dark winter sky.”
—Patti Garibay, founder and executive director, American Heritage Girls, Cincinnati, Ohio
“My best gift was a small brown leather-covered Bible from my mother. I never knew it would be the greatest Christmas gift ever until she passed away four years after she gave it to me. This Christmas and every Christmas — every day, in fact — I feel comfort when I read my Bible and when I read the inscription from my mother to me. In the front of the book, she wrote, in her beautiful flowing script, ‘God bless you for all your life. Your Loving Mother.'”
—Corine G., Suffolk, Virginia
THE CHRISTMAS TOY GIFTS THAT MADE PARENTS SCRAMBLE
“My best Christmas gift ever was a basketball hoop game that I set up in my room. It was sort of like an arcade game. The basketballs were automatically fed back to the player, with a digital feature that kept score. I played it with one of my older brothers for hours, and we laughed so hard as we competed against each other. It was like we were in our own little bubble, staying up late and bringing snacks up to my bedroom so we could keep playing. We are 10 years apart in age, and I was eight years old at the time — and I remember being thrilled that my big brother was spending so much time with me.”
—James R., Greensboro, North Carolina
“I received my best Christmas gift when I was a little kid, about seven years old. I had seen a nutcracker — one of those classic ‘soldier’ nutcrackers, complete with a tiny gold sword, military hat and long coattails — in the Smithsonian Institution’s gift shop when my parents took me there. I wanted that nutcracker so badly! I still remember that childlike wonder and joy I felt when I finally held it on Christmas morning, and my sense of awe that came from knowing that ‘Santa’ had read my letter and stopped his sleigh at the Smithsonian, just for me!”
—Deirdre R., Reading, Massachusetts
Leaders and readers alike share their ‘best Christmas gift ever’ picks with Fox News Digital as the countdown to Christmas begins.
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“My three sisters and I were very close. We shared a lot of great times with my mom, while my dad sometimes felt as if he were on an island all by himself, not always privy to our late-night heart-to-heart talks. When my mom passed away suddenly after a short battle with pancreatic cancer, we were all in shock — we’d lost our best friend, our confidant. It was a void my father felt pressure to fill, yet he wasn’t sure how.
“Not long after, he asked each of us individually if there was something special we wanted of our mother’s to remember her by. We four girls had no idea that each of us asked him for the same thing: the gold cross necklace our mother wore every day. My father showed no reaction. But he came up with a plan.”
CHARLES PAYNE ON THE TRUE JOY OF CHRISTMAS: ‘ALWAYS SOMETHING YOU CAN DO’ FOR OTHERS
What joys await this little one and all of us? The wonders of the Christmas season are here!
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“On Christmas morning, he presented each of us girls with a gold box tied with a white ribbon. When we opened our boxes, we were all delighted — and teary-eyed — to find Mother’s gold cross inside. But we were also confused. Seeing the look on our faces, my father explained, ‘I went to a jeweler and had the same cross made for each of you girls. I asked him not to let me know which one was the original. I have no idea which one is Mom’s real cross. But does it really matter?’ he added. ‘She loved you all the same. She would’ve wanted each of you to have it. Please wear it and remember her.’
“I will never forget that Christmas. I not only felt my mother’s presence there with me in the room, but I felt a much deeper bond with my father. Almost a decade has passed since my father joined my mother in heaven To this day, when I put on that cross, I not only think of my mother but my father, too, and the joy he brought all of us that Christmas Day.”
—Barbara Booth, co-founder and CEO of Go-Be, Orleans, Massachusetts
HOW TO MAKE SURE YOUR PACKAGES ARRIVE BY CHRISTMAS
“My best Christmas gift ever was my first two-wheeled bike. It was green and had a cool banana seat and high handlebars. I named it the Green Hornet. I’ll never forget my first ride on it, which sadly was a disaster! I couldn’t wait to ride it, and I slid on the ice as I took it down the driveway, crashing hard. I was seven when I got that bike, and all these years later — I’m 60 now! — I remember the joy that bike brought me.”
—Fred R., Boston, Massachusetts
“Giving to others is a wonderful thing. I really prefer it to receiving things. One year for Christmas, I dressed up as Santa and went to a few local hospitals to visit children. I gave out candy canes to the little ones. Just looking at the kids and seeing their happy faces was very rewarding to me. That was one of the best Christmas seasons I ever enjoyed.”
—Richard P., Hastings-on-Hudson, New York
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“A few weeks before Christmas, I was joking with my dad about his set of golf clubs. It had been an ongoing joke for years that Dad needed to let my brother know that his clubs were going to me when he died — our humor could be a little dark! Sadly, Dad passed away suddenly and was laid to rest just a few days before Christmas.
“Weeks later, as we were going through his belongings, we got to the clubs. Inside one of the pockets of the golf bag was a note to me. It read, ‘Merry Christmas, son. I hope you enjoy the clubs. Love, Dad.’ He had intended to give them to me that Christmas after all. I still have those clubs, all these years later.”
—John B., Hampton, Iowa
What’s the best Christmas gift you’ve ever received? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below.
