Gift inspiration, please!

[AmIHumanOrAmIAYeti]

I have a lovely friend, she is literally the loveliest person who sees the good in everything and makes the world a genuinely better place.

She’s had a really shitty 18 months. Marriage breakdown, elderly parents with dementia that she was trying to care for at home but it became too much and she had to move them to a care home, teenage children studying GCSEs and A Levels in the chaos, work restructure where she she was at risk of redundancy (she managed to stay but got put into one she doesn’t enjoy but she keeps turning up and giving her all). She lost her dad a few months back and her mum has gone downhill rapidly and is becoming very difficult.

She basically holds everybody up and gives her all to everyone else.

I’m going away with her next week for a night (my treat) and would like to give her a little gift which just lifts her spirits a little when she looks at it. If it could be about the joy she gives to others or have the word “joy” on it somewhere that would be perfect. Could be a bracelet or a little plaque for her bedroom or desk (nothing too twee) or some other token but I’m struggling to find something that is simple but meaningful. Anyone seen anything?

Gosh very difficult without knowing her.
My friend randomly sent me a postcard which said "You wonderful human being" on it which I love. Try and find a card like that? Probably Etsy?!

Don't buy a plant if recent threads on here are anything to go by!

If you wanted something bigger, I'd suggest a spa break where she could get away from all the grief.

Etsy gifts are probably your best bet tbh. Lots of twee and not too twee bits.

You sound like a wonderful friend x

Thank you. I tell her regularly that she is my favourite person in the world. Unfortunately, distance and the demands of life on both sides means we don’t get to spend a lot of time together and it’s usually a text conversation over a couple of days every few weeks. I wanted something that could remind her inbetween, on the tough days, how special she is. I sometimes send her some nice biscuits and tea (to remind her to take a break for herself) or some funny socks or something but I would like something that’s about her, rather than for her to consume in a moment.

When another friend’s mum died very unexpectedly I found a lovely glass pebble - very tactile but pretty thing - with a freehand heart in the middle. I noted on the card that she could keep it with her, and when she missed her mum, just reach into her pocket and hold it or smooth it and see it as her mum’s love in some way, still there. 12 years on she still has it in her pocket at all times.