When I was 13 or 14, my mother used to gift me books that I was dying to read. Those are my most memorable birthday gifts.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Every night, I was read to. Every Friday, we were taken to the library. I always received at least one book for my birthday. I have a few of them yet. Early on, I had my own collection of books. I loved to read. Still do.
If you're not a parent, if you're an aunt or uncle or neighbor, books are an amazing gift.
My mother gave me a pair of diamond earrings when I was 13. It symbolised becoming a teenager. I also remember getting a collection of costume jewellery from my grandmother when I was in high school.
My happiest memory of childhood was my first birthday in reform school. This teacher took an interest in me. In fact, he gave me the first birthday presents I ever got: a box of Cracker Jacks and a can of ABC shoe polish.
My father died when I was quite small, so my uncle used to buy me books and read them to me.
By the time I was 12, I was reading my parents' books because there weren't teenage books then.
The best gift I was ever given was the arts. My mum gave me those on a silver platter. Growing up, her and my grandmother would take me to ballets, classical concerts, even smoky jazz clubs I wasn't supposed to be in!
My mother's incredible diaries, which she'd written from when she was 21, and even before that. She fell in love with my father when she was 12.
On my 14th birthday, my grandfather and my grandmother gave me the best birthday present ever: a drafting table that I have worked on ever since.
I was about 11 or 12 when I began to pick up my mother's books.