Dan McCauley, Carpenter, Bellevue

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"It was a present from me from my grandmother to my daughter. My grandmother passed away and I gave her little crucifix to my daughter when she was 6. It was the best gift because my daughter appreciated it so much... She's 13 now, and she still wears it. I remember my grandmother wearing it."

Marla English, Teacher, Bellevue

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"I think it was a present from my mother-in-law. It was a picture of her mother and father, whom I had never met. My mother-in-law always gave very lavish gifts, but this one meant more to me than anything... We had been collecting family history for our children and to get something like that was really nice."

Denise Espeland, Mortgage broker, Redmond

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"It was probably the gift I gave a friend. She doesn't have a very good mom and I sent a bunch of clothes and a journal because she's a teenager and she's going through some tough times... I've known her since she was born and to talk to her now and send her those things still makes a difference in her life. It really makes me feel good."

Dan Dickson, X-Ray technician, Kirkland

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"I was in the military in 1989 -- I was in Panama during the invasion -- and a little girl in third grade at Allbrook Elementary School in Panama gave me a Christmas card. All of the soldiers were away from home and the children made the cards and came by and gave them to us. It made me feel great! It lifted my spirits completely. I still have the card -- I framed it and put it up on my wall."

Kyle Minar, Seventh-grader, Redmond

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"A SuperNintendo. It was the best because sometimes when you're bored and there's nothing else to do, you can go and play it. I still play it... You get lots of cartridges. I have a few of them, but they're pretty expensive."

Howard Brown, Business owner, Bellevue

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"I'd say that it's probably the gift of love to my wife, which doesn't happen just at Christmas but happens all year long. We're doing our 50th celebration on May 26... The time went by awfully fast."

Copyright © 1995 by the Bellevue, WA-based Journal American newspaper.

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