Casandra Palmer

Gifts from the Heart

Casandra Palmer graduated from the University of Akron/Wayne College in 2009. After completing her essay “Gifts from the Heart,” Casandra submitted it for publication in her campus paper at the encouragement of her instructor. She spent a few days revising the essay and looked to feedback from others to strengthen her points. Casandra enjoys reading inspirational novels and offers this advice to other student writers: “Learn all you can and never give up. Follow your dreams!”

In our home, gift exchanges have always been meaningful items to us. We do not just give things so that everyone has lots of presents. Each item has a purpose, such as a need or something that someone has desired for a long time. Some things have been given that may have made the other person laugh or cry. I remember one Christmas, our daughter Hannah had her boyfriend, who looked a lot like Harry Potter, join us. We wanted to include him, but we did not know him well, so it was hard to know what to give him. We decided to get Hannah a Harry Potter poster and crossed out the name Harry Potter. In place of Harry Potter, we put her boyfriend’s name. Everyone thought it was funny, and we were all laughing, including Hannah’s boyfriend. It was a personal gift that he knew we had thought about. For some reason, Hannah did not think it was so funny, but she will still remember it. Another meaningful gift came from watching the movie Titanic with my other daughter, Tabitha. We both cried hard and hugged each other. She surprised me by getting a necklace that resembled the gem known as “Heart of the Ocean.” I was so touched that she gave me something to remind me of the experience we shared. These special moments have left lasting impressions on my heart.