We asked readers to unwrap memories and tell us about the best Christmas present they’d ever received.

Easy. Alexis Marie Makris. 12/10/2002. A gift that keeps giving.
– Laura McNamara Makris

Moving to Galveston, Texas.
– Alice McCormick Owens

Every, single Christmas Eve was special at my Grammie and Paw Paw Peters’ house. But one year was extra special. I really wanted a doll house. He built one for me. It’s a replica of the house I grew up in at 1202 Broadway. I still have it proudly displayed in my living room. My brother and sister and I had our very own Santa … and we still have him — 97 years young.
– Ellie Peters

Getting engaged to the best guy ever.
– Schel Heydenburg

I grew up in a family of five kids, and I didn’t realize it then, but money was tight. My mom always made Christmas so special — she’s been gone seven years — from presents to stories of Santa arriving, looking at neighborhood lights in the car. As a teenager, I fell in love with Calvin Klein’s Eternity fragrance. It was pretty pricey at the time, but I always wrote items on my list, whether or not they were attainable. It’s Christmas, so dream big, right?
Christmas morning as I’m shaking boxes and guessing what is what, I came across a box for me. Small and square, and sounds like liquid when I shook it. Ooh, the excitement! I opened it to find that coveted bottle of fragrance I’d been hoping for! It was such a surprise, but even on my parent’s obviously tight budget with five of us, she always found a way to give us something special. I sure do miss that lady, but I try to keep her traditions alive each year. Maybe that’s actually the best gift, to be given memories that will last forever.
– Debbie Borque

One Christmas I received an early present — everything I needed for a trip to Colorado. Little did I know that on that trip to Colorado I would meet my future husband. We have now been married for 35 years. Not only does snow stick in Colorado, but so does love.
– Dee Ann Richmond

My dad, who is now just shy of 86, built my sister and me a play house when I was about six. My sister would have been four. I remember walking outside on Christmas Day and seeing the cutest red and white A-frame house complete with shutters; it was so big. I couldn’t believe my eyes.
– Susan Brooks Fox

The first Christmas we were married, my husband used his first Christmas bonus check to buy me a sewing machine. I still have it, 39 years later.
– Lynda Wagner

Suzy Smart Doll.
– Chapa-Gionet Linda

Socks.
– Roxanne Gilmore

Snow in Galveston, a few years back.
– Ed Muncey

Having a star named for me.
– Bonnie Lem

Having my pictures in your magazine.
– Edward Dmotime

A new year, a new start. What New Year’s resolution were you most successful at keeping? Send your comments to editor@coastmonthly.com or tell us on Facebook.