I should know better by now...

When I was a little girl, around 8 or 9, I scrimped and saved my own money and bought my daddy a new wallet for Christmas. I saw how his wallet was old and worn and I just knew this would be the perfect gift!

I was so excited and so proud of myself for thinking of such a wonderful gift all on my own. Christmas morning finally came and daddy opened my gift, my beautiful new leather wallet that I had bought with my own money, and the disappointment, and start of my issues with buying a gift for my father, began.

He took my gift back!

The beautiful new wallet I had purchased, with my own money, was a tri-fold instead of a bi-fold...the wrong wallet for my daddy.

He didn't even let me help him take it back and pick out a new bi-fold, he just kept using his old one until he eventually bought a new one. I am not sure when that happened, but the point is that at a young and tender age, my heart had been broken by my daddy when he didn't love my gift that I had thought was going to be so perfect for him!

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About 15 or so years later,

it took a long time before I even tried to find a perfect gift for my daddy, I just took the easy way out and bought a jar of Planter peanuts, or hand stiched a B on a hankie for him and called Christmas for daddy done,

I did it again, I found the perfect gift for my daddy!

A collection of c.d.'s of the illustrate version of the New Testament (voices were of some famous actors).

I just knew this gift would be perfect!

My daddy has a long commute to work and loves to listen to the Bible on tape.

He keeps an old portable tape player in his car (since cars don't even come with tape players anymore) and listens to the bible on his way to and from work. I was so excited to have found a great new gift that would be perfect for him. He would now be able to use his car's cd player to listen to the bible, and in some new voices instead of the monotone male's voice that his tapes were in.

Christmas morning came and dad opened his gift.

Without going through it all again...

lets just say,

he still listens to his bible on tape.

The King James version, one man's monotone voice, use the portable tape player on my car seat bible on tape!

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Another 4-5 years later,

I was going to really get it right this year.

It had been long enough that I had forgotten the pain and heartbreak of finding the perfect gift, only to be notified that it was all wrong.

I thought I was really on top of things, and beating the odds and making up for the past this time. I was going to get my daddy the perfect gift, and he was going to love it so much I could forget about the past and that little girl with the broken heart...but that was a dream I should have known was going to stay that way, a dream.

A couple weeks before Christmas Kev & I were at one of our favorite stores while visiting with Kelsey and Travis on a Sunday evening and I found it.

The perfect gift for my daddy.

It was a King James Version full Bible on cd with the old testament read by one man and the new testament read by James Earl Jones!

I just knew I couldn't find a more perfect gift!

I was giddy with exitment and jumping out of my skin with joy at knowing I had finally done it!

I had a wonderful gift for my daddy that he was truly going to love!

But, just to be sure, before I purchased it, I called my daddy and made sure he hadn't already purchased a bible on cd set. (Last time I had ridden in his car I thought it was still there, the portable tape player for his bible on tape, but I wanted to be sure!)

Christmas morning came and daddy opened his gift and I didn't get much of a reaction (he did know about it) but I was so pleased with how well I had finally done!

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Then....

a couple days after Christmas

I get a voicemail on my phone from who other than daddy dearest

asking if I had the receipt for the bible on cd I bought

and if I happened to notice when shopping if there was a version that a certain guy had narrated.

All the pain and heartbreak came crashing back down upon me...

but of coarse I just call him back and say

"Sure I have the receipt, just bring in the gift and I can take it back and we will look up that certain bible on cd and find the one you want."

So today that is exactly what we did.

I found and ordered the correct bible on cd set on Amazon and now have in my possession what I had thought was finally the perfect gift, that will be going back to Borders as soon as I have a chance. (Too bad, because I had bought it with a 30% off coupon, so had done really well with that Christmas purchase...oh well, as I said before, I should have known better!!)

**I just want to add a note here, that I understand the importance of having a gift you will actually use and love, so if I get you something you don't like, don't hesitate to ask me for the receipt, it doesn't bother me...except when it comes to my daddy, although I am glad he will now be getting the gift he actually wants I am still a bit heartbroken I didn't get it right the first time. I guess you could say I have a bit of a daddy-gift complex...it brings back that heartbreak from when I was a little girl!**