The holidays can be a stressful time of year, friends and family coming together, that uncle who wants everyone to sit on his lap is over and Aunt Cheryl had a few too many hard eggnogs and now is crying about great grandma’s pearl necklace. To top it all off you have to find gifts for these people, and you certainly aren’t going to be outdone by your cousin again this year. You know the one, somehow he always finds those perfect surprises that get everyone misty eyed and ready to hug him, the bastard.
You may be like me and struggle to find that perfect gift for loved ones, what do they want? What do they need? What aren’t they willing to get for themselves? So many tough lines to walk and even after all of your careful thought and consideration, that cousin of yours just bought the whole family iPads as if he’s the Sultan of Brunei! After everyone is done opening their boxes of corporate greed, eyes glowing with the anticipation of gluing themselves to their new $300 screens, you hand a nondescript brown envelope to some special relative.
Maybe it was your brother or sister who used to tell you all about the tattoos they hoped to get someday. Possibly your mom or dad lost someone and you found the perfect design to help them cherish a memory forever. While others might look on and just see a gift certificate, the two of you know what you really just gave them. Inside that envelope was the start of a collection towards something special, a guarantee to you and them that they will have something to cherish forever, a memory, an event, a piece of art, and possibly most important the promise of a new shared experience to come.
