Gift ideas for a 77 yr old woman?

[bookworm65t]

My mom turns 77 next week, and I am at a loss for gifts. Other than being overweight, she is in excellent health. She said nyet to new clothes or books. She doesn't rent or go to movies anymore. I don't have enough money for gift cards. I don't know what to do.

I think my brother might have beat us all anyway. He and his wife had their first child 2 months ago.

Does anyone have any ideas?



:dilemma:

[elleng]

1. Babies do beat all, and don't know what you mean by

'I don't have enough money for gift cards,' but I gave my Mom small boxes of writing cards, as she wrote to friends and family regularly. Here are examples; just selected Smithsonian, but most museums have them.

http://www.smithsonianstore.com/holiday-greeting-cards/

[MrsBrady]

2. one year I donated to the red cross in memorium

to my grandfather who had recently passed... I had the thank you card sent to my grandmother.
They had had their home destroyed by a tornado in 1950, and the red cross had helped them.
I only donated $50, but any amount will do. She liked that.

One year I scanned some photos of me with my grandparents (me at different ages) ,
resized the photos to fit on photo paper and framed it for her.
I was broke that year. She loved it.

Another year I took two pictures of my mother as a baby and her high school graduation photo and had them framed together.
Not as broke that year, but still found a good frame place that didn't overprice on purpose. She put it right on the main book case.

My grandmother liked colorful flowers and birds. So I found mugs at a gift store that had pretty humming birds on them. Score!
That became her morning coffee cup. Dont remember the price...must have not been much as I was in college at the time.


What does she like? use your imagination.

[alphafemale]

3. A couple or four of blank photo albums.

Most folks that age might have tons of unsorted photos.

Plus you can spend the day with her sorting out and labeling the ones selected.

She'll like the time you spent the best. Plus you might get to hear some good stories.

Or you could scan her old photos into the computer. I think someone her age might appreciate a photo album more though.

[MrsBrady]

5. my grandmother, a year before she died...

went through all her photos and labeled what hadn't been labeled already.

My mom helped her, because my mom was the oldest daughter and had been around longer.

I'm trying to scan everything...a big job. and now that Grandma's gone....
it's a real treasure to have those marked. I wouldn't know who/what or anything of most of them.

And you are right. The stories are priceless --

because I listened to her stories of her family,
I ended up finding an important family document, pre-civil war era.
My cousin told me, in passing, last year, that he had some old bible birth/death page that he didn't know
who the people were, but that his mother (my great-aunt) had put between two pieces of glass and framed.
He had it in a box. The reason I knew this would be important to me? My grandmother told me
that one of her aunts had told her that my GG grandmother had buried the family bible before they left Alabama for Oklahoma.
Chills ran up my spine the minute my cousin said "bible page".

[applegrove]

4. Does she read? Giver her a gift certificate to a bookstore. I bought my mom a teak letter/paper

organizer that stands up on her desk and leans almost against the wall. She uses it every day. I worked in a gift shop that sold them at the time.

[Kali]

6. flowers or a live plant

depending on personality, flowers just make most peopel feel good plus they are temporary - no need to store or dust when they are done. Live plant is nice greenery for a house and something alive yet simple to care for if a person is inclined to it.

[handmade34]

7. one of those

greeting cards you can record a message on... tell her how much she is loved and she can listen to it over and over if she pleases

...I just had a big basket of assorted goodies(+ balloons) delivered to my dad for his b-day (83) he loved it!


My mom... I just send her a box of precooked bacon and tootsie rolls once in awhile... keeps her happy (83 also)

[safeinOhio]

8. bake something, like cookies.

Nothing says loving like some thing from the oven.

[dimbear]

9. You can never have too many towels or drinking glasses.

What's not to like?

[zanana1]

10. A gift I once gave my mother...

I bought her all the birthday, graduation and congratulations cards she'd need for the year and placed them, by month, in a type of photo album. She really appreciated it because she didn't get out often and sometimes had no card to send. That gift was a bit pricey, but it was worth it.