This year, the best gift of my Christmas was probably one I gave, rather than one I got. (Well, the best two were ones I gave…I found a beautiful ring that says Mo Anam Cara — ie My Soul Mate, in Irish– and gave it to Bruce.)
Beyond that, though, I put in a lot of time and effort to make something really special for all the other members of my family, and they were utterly thrilled.
When I was growing up, I remember my father pulling out this ancient reel-to-reel machine and recording parties and singing and conversations with visiting relatives. He’d “interview” my sisters, or just play the piano and sing some of the classics in his beautiful baritone. Anyway, the machine broke years (and years!) ago, and for the past decade, I’ve had a big box of the old tapes that went with it. I had wanted to find a machine and listen to them someday.
I found something better: a company that takes those old tapes and transfers them into digital format. About 6 weeks ago, I mailed off this box of a dozen yellowed, crinkly tapes, and about 10 days later received two shiny discs filled with hours of MP3 files that covered a span of about 20 years in my family history. My grandparents voices were on there, my late mother’s, my siblings as little girls. It was such a wonderful trip down memory lane for me.
Though it was time consuming, I went through every single file, cleaning them up, weeding out duplications (apparently, if one side of the tape was blank, the recording of the other side would bleed through!) I also tried to guess at dates and identify voices. Then I put everything together and burned both audio and MP3 discs for every member of my family.
Big job. Very very big.
But it got bigger because I then printed off tons of disc labels, complete with old family photos. Then a content list with all the tracks. Then an entire notebook with sleeves for every disc.
It was a very labor intensive gift at a time when I really couldn’t afford it. But the look on my father’s face on Christmas morning, as well as the reactions of all my siblings, made it worth every minute spent.
Best gift of the holiday season…both for them, and for me.
:present1: :present1:
Oh, a big PS:
Speaking of gifts, here’s one for you! I just found out yesterday that Audible.com has released an audio book version of my December 2007 ebook And A Dead Guy In A Pear Tree. The story was a free read on eHarlequin last year and the two pieces of very good news are: the audible version sounds great (the narrator is really good!) and it’s still free!!!
I don’t know how long it will be available–probably no later than New Year’s Day. So if you’re interested, go check it out and download it for FREE.
Leslie Kelly used to say she wanted to be a doctor when she grew up, but then she discovered Nancy Drew books. Being a flashlight-under-the-covers-nose-in-book reader throughout her childhood, she couldn’t think of anything else she’d rather do as an adult than continue to lose herself in fictional stories. Her real life marriage of 20 years to the man of her dreams is a constant reinforcement that happily-ever-afters really can happen…and that they’re worth writing about. Living in Maryland, Leslie spends her non-writing time laughing a lot with the above-mentioned romance hero and their three daughters. Though an author of more than thirty sexy, contemporary comedies, she has recently branched out to write dark romantic suspense under the pseudonym Leslie Parrish.
3 Seductions and a Wedding
COLD SIGHT
Kiss Me If You Can
Wild For Him
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Oh Leslie your story brought tears to my eyes! How wonderful of you to go through all that trouble for such a labor of love. I’m sure your family was very touched by what you did. So it was definitely worth it. Wow. That’s just lovely.
And I loved the ring you got for Bruce. Sounds like a very special holiday.
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Leslie, what a precious and heartfelt gift you made for your family. I’m sitting here with tears streaming down my face just reading about it.
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Sounds like a wonderful gift to your husband and your efforts with your family years ago. The best gift is one thought of from the heart and I know they loved it and appreciated all your efforts.
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Good morning jungle buddies and my :monkey :monkey :monkey :monkey. I hope that all is well.
Les, that was a wonderful thing you did for your family. There must have been not a dry eye in the house…I can only imagine what it must of felt like…it was labor intensive, but it was a labor of love…
Thanks for the link on A Dead Guy in a Pear tree…I was thinking about that story all Christmas…I really wanted/needed to read it…brought back wonderful memories of last year….I am all over the free audible story…
I hope that everyone has a wonderful day today…we had a light dusting of snow last night, but it was a beautiful sunrise this morning…I hope we don’t get hit with snow again…I will swing by later…
Peace and love,
Paula R.
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:freezin No snow but it is very, very windy here today. The dogs are loving it.
I would love to know the company that did the transfers for you. I have boxes of stuff that I would love to put on dvd that is just sitting in a closet. I have the old projecter but no where to use it. Not even a wall.
I hope everyone enjoyed your awesome gift!
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What a wonderful gift to give to your family. My aunt is in the process of making scrapbooks with pictures of our family for each of us. She has so many pictures of my mom and all of the family for the books. She is even taking old slides and having pictures printed for the books.
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As everyone else has said, what a wonderful gift! I can only imagine their expressions and their gratitude!
And speaking of gratitude, thanks for the link to the audible book. I didn’t get a chance to read it last year. And as much time as I spend in the car playing taxi driver, that will be awesome to be able to listen to it! Thanks!!
Have a great day, everyone!!
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What absolutely magnificent gifts, Leslie!
Having those pieces of family history are priceless.
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What a great gift, Leslie! And such a nice and thoughtful thing for you to do for your family. It must have felt wonderful and perhaps bitter sweet to hear your mother’s voice again…
Have a wonderful day all. We’re taking down the tree and such getting ready for the new year.
Cher
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Leslie, What a beautiful gift from the heart!!
Thank you for the heads up on And A Dead Guy In A Pear Tree! I just downloaded it to my Ipod touch and can’t wait to listen to it!!
Thanks again!!
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Leslie,
What an amazing gift. YOU are truly a giving special woman.
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Hey Les, I listened to the story, but it wasn’t the same. It was hard for me to get into the story, which solidifies the fact that listening to books is not a go for me. I would rather read it and let my imagination fill in the pictures. In my head, all the characters have different voices and it was hard to listen to just one person saying all the lines. It just didn’t make it real enough for me.
Peace and love
Paula R.
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Those are really thoughtful gifts Leslie I’m sure your family will treasure them!
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How lovely of you to do that for your family.
Thanks for the download info. I can’t wait to listen to it. Happy New Year!
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Leslie, what an incredibly wonderful gift. I think my favorite gifts this year were the ones I gave my nieces and nephews since they were all thrilled with their chosen outings with me as the gifts to go with their books.
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Leslie what a wonderful gift. An idea that will probably spread to other families. I’m sure your labor intensive gift is appreciated by those that recieved it. I can remember watching movies my dad took! They are not very good but it does show my family in that time period. I don’t know where those films are, stored at my brothers probably.
The ring you found for Bruce sounds very special. That is the type of gift that brings pleasure for many years.
Thanks for sharing your giving spirit with us. I loved And A Dead Guy in a Pear Tree. When I was visiting the Blaze thread yesterday people were talking about their favorite Blaze book or books for the year, several of us listed One Wild Wedding Night as a favorite. It was a great read!