The Best Gift I Have Ever Recieved

Yesterday I got the most wonderful gift that I've ever received.

First, some BACKSTORY:
In 2011, as most of you know, Wesboro Baptist was on quite a tear. They had scheduled a protest in my home town, Nashville, against a homosexual soldier that had passed away. At the time I was living with my best friend and we had a friend of ours from art school and his boyfriend staying with us for a few weeks as well. Needless to say, this gave us all drive and passion to stand against everything Wesboro had come to represent. Our friend staying with us, along with a couple of people he knew to help push it along through networking, organized the protest and the turn out was incredible. There was very close to 1000 people there.

The girl in this photo was my best friend.



After the protest, my friend tossed her poster to a trash pile and it broke my heart because I loved hers and thought she would keep it. She saw I was heartbroken and gave it to me and jokingly told me to keep it forever. I told her I would.

Then in January of 2013 she passed away suddenly in a car accident while I was states away after having decided to move across the country.

After I came back to Tennessee, I found the poster I had put in storage and made it my mission to have it framed and placed in my house.
However, after a friend of mine inquired about the mysterious poster in my office, I told him the story. He insisted, excitedly, that I must have it professionally done. Not only is it of great value to me, he confidently claimed that it would eventually be a wonderful historical piece considering the content of the message it displays and the beauty of it.

My friend took it and had it for around 3 weeks and my husband surprised me a few nights ago by picking it up while I was asleep so I could have it when I woke up.



I still have yet to talk one on one with our friend that had it done but apparently it was quite a job for them (as it was bent up and slightly water damaged) and ended up being a good $1K framing job. But they covered the entire thing for me.

Never have I been so thankful, nor have I felt so fulfilled in immortalizing my best friend.

This poster will hang on my wall until I am old and grey.

 

hard to say how this is a nice story when someone passed away. but it is a very nice story. thanks for sharing bunny. lovely picture..

 

that would make a groovy poster print

 

Wow framing is really expensive.

 

That was a very beautiful and heart warming story. I'm sorry for the loss of your friend.

 

Double edged sword in that you have lost such a special person but that you also had her in your life is a blessing.

Thank you for sharing with us.

 

That's amazing... truly an amazing story behind it.

Hope it immortalizes your friend as much as it does the message it bears from her

 

i think the best gift i have ever received is probably pretty much every hug i have ever received.

i love a lot of technology things, especially when i can make or explore other things with them, but that's, you know, you can never really expect someone else to understand what your top spec would be, because we all think and to things and use things differently. mass quantities of things like leggo blox or lincon logs would probably be wonderful.

but the difference is, with a hug, if its sincere, the only way to get that wrong is to try giving one to someone who doesn't want one. then they think you're trying to be some kind of creep. so for that reason i'm always paranoid to be the one to initiate it. and being paranoid to be the one to initiate it, i don't generally get as many as i would like to.

so when someone does, yah, that's the most wonderful thing in the world.

 

What a great gift to immortalize a friendship that you will hold dear to your heart forever.

 

For me, it depends on who the hug is from. i'm sure that's what you meant by "if it's sincere", however, I find there are more times than not I have received hugs that were more self serving for the person who initiates it than what I would prefer to receive.

There are, though, certain hugs from certain people that are particularly special in their own right. I always cherish every hug from all of my still surviving grandparents. Each hug my good friend from work who isn't a touchy person gives me, and each hug I receive from the mother of the close friend I lost.

There are very few others that can stand with that, but those that do have their own role and purpose within my life that I cherish. And of which cannot be even remotely touched by the hug offering from the offensive and hateful coworker, or the manipulative and greedy peer.

It's pretty unfortunate that the world is that way....I've been trying to release most my anxiety towards that by just knowing that they cannot truly affect me and try to show as much love and compassion towards them regardless of their own intention. It's been quite a task, I have found.

 

And thank you all for your kind words. This is, by far, my most prized possession in my life right now.

I would like to hear about other people's favorite gifts!

 

That is a beautiful picture and the framing is wonderfully done....but 1k??????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am in shock. WOW!
Your friend was very beautiful, and I am sorry you lost her....but am glad you have a beautiful momento to always remember her....

 

you have a very good friend to do that for you very moving story as well

my friends and I draw names every year and make homemade gifts for each other. We do it randomly in January after Christmas winds down. The first year my friend made me a jewelry box, the second year I got a bunch of homemade cleaning items, and the third year my friend made a journal for me. All 3 are by far my favorite gifts ever. And not to sound overly cliche and cheesy, but hand making a gift tailor made for someone else is even better than receiving one.

 

I would have to say things my mom gave me and put all of her heart and soul into everything she ever gave me....be it a little change purse full of brand new shiny pennies.....or a ring she had made for me for my 18th birthday....14k gold lion ring wth diamond eyes.....I was broke one year and gave that ring to my brother for his graduation wth my mom's permission....it was a little too big for my finger anyway. He still has it, and always will....but my meaning is the little change purse of pennies meant just as much to me....and so many other things.......I don't have a favorite gift that I can think of at the moment.
If my mom had it, she gave it....and was generous that way with everyone.....