the top 3 greatest gift challenge stories

Once again, I must say reading all your wonderful gift giving stories brought a few tears to our eyes, made our hearts smile and also gave us some good laughs.  We’re truly honored to have a place in a chapter of your story.  So without further ado… here are the entries we chose as our top three.

Catching Fireflies has been helping me spread smiles for many, many years.  I, honestly, enjoy giving more than receiving, and your gift selection and wonderful employees have always helped me choose special gifts of the heart!  On the other side, I enjoy receiving gifts, because, when I wear them or display them throughout my home, they are daily reminders of how fortunate I am in family and friends.  I think of those gift-givers every day. Even my husband caught on to the sentimental value that comes with a gift from Catching Fireflies.  Our home is full of those special gifts.

However, my favorite gift was given to me from my childhood friend, Mary Kay Stark Marwil.  Unbeknown, we had both discovered your fun and colorful store independently and often showed up at our “Girl’s Club” celebrations with special treasures from Catching Fireflies.  We finally united our shopping adventures while she was going through 2 years of chemotherapy.  She had so much positive energy, and she wanted to share that spirit with her fellow chemo patients.  She would initiate Uno Games and we would shop for fun prizes at your store for the winners (we would make sure everyone was a winner).  We also would shop for holiday treats for the dedicated doctors and nurses at the Oncology Department at Beaumont.  Mary Kay and I had many different interests, but we were always connected in our love of gift giving and love for animals. She combined those interests with the perfect gift. I’ll never forget that big smile of hers when she gave me my #1 gift.  It was a personalized leash hook with the puppy picture of my dog, Tug.  Coincidentally, the picture she selected was from the award winning Catching Fireflies dog photo contest.  It captures the personal touch that is the foundation of your store.

Sadly, Mary Kay lost her battle with cancer.  She will always have a beat of my heart and I cherish all our fun outings.  My ‘Tug’ hook is proudly on display and I start each day thinking of her and all the joy she added to our lives.  And Tug. also,  appreciates this special gift…his walks are his favorite thing.

This Greatest Gift is a smile for my heart! ~Ann Calvert

 

Anytime a gift-giving occasion comes up, I check out the website for Catching Fireflies, which usually has me popping into the store, which usually has me browsing for unrelated reasons…but enough about me.

Last month, being a Michigander, I was off to a grad party for a friend.  I wanted to give her a cash gift, but also make it a little personal.  What could be more personal than Poo-pourri–a bathroom product created to eliminate (hee-hee) odors that arise in bathrooms at times?  It was nearing closing time as my daughter and I went in.  I made a beeline to the clerk and asked where I could find the Poo-pourri.  Without hesitation, she took me to the display as if everyone comes in just for Poo-pourri.

My daughter was amazed at this casual exchange over what she felt was yet another embarrassing idea of mom’s.  After accepting the fact that maybe mom knew the poop (heh), she began her own speed shopping maneuvers throughout the store before we ran out of time.

This is where my story begins…and gets out of the bathroom.  My daughter was leaving that week to return to her college town approximately 1300 miles away from home.  She was setting up her first apartment for the upcoming fall semester.  To a first-time apartment dweller, Catching Fireflies is the mother lode of what would be perfect for that apartment–even if you haven’t yet seen that apartment.  Feeling the tugs of both home and the excitement of her own place, she fell in love with a wall decoration that read “DETROIT” cut from Michigan license plates.  She showed it to me using her best wouldn’t-this-be-perfect-for-my-new-apartment expression and voice.  I agreed and put it back on the display.  I had come for Poo-Pourri and was unmoved (heh-heh) by her efforts.

The following Monday I made it back to Catching Fireflies, bought it, had it gift-wrapped (for free!) and cried in the car as I realized I wouldn’t get to see her face when she discovered it.  I hid it in a dresser drawer as we loaded the van with apartment needs.

Several days later she had signed a lease, and was able to unload the van of all her worldly goods.  I had to keep my mouth shut until she discovered it.  When she did, she called and let me know it was perfect–said she knew what it was before she even unwrapped it.  Should’ve sprayed a shot of Poo-pourri on the gift wrap… ~Alison Martin