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Stuck on finding a gift for the
person who seems to have everything?
Here are some reader tips from our
request for 'The Perfect Gift'

By Betty Shimabukuro
Star-Bulletin

THE perfect gift for the most difficult person on your list is not going to magically jump into your arms during a last-minute trip to the mall.

You will have to think about it hard and spend some time making it happen. No shortcuts.

The many readers who responded to our request for "The Perfect Gift," listed a variety of gift ideas that had worked for them when faced with a really tough giftee. None were a quick fix.

Our winning submission was from Robert Dulay of Honolulu, who actually came through with two well-considered suggestions.

For his mother, who lives in Torrance, Calif., Dulay created a family reunion in his computer, to replace the one that had never been possible in real life.

By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
Nohea Chang shows a watercolor painting made by her great-
grandfather. She had it copied to give her sisters as a gift.

"She really tried to have a big family reunion, but it is very hard trying to get a whole bunch of people from the mainland ... and worse, there were others from different continents," Dulay said.

Using software that came with a new scanner, he merged photographs of family members, scaling them to proportionate sizes and combining them in a single "family portrait" that spanned four generations.

Dulay brought together his grandparents, along with his parents, their four children and eight grandchildren, through a little technological magic he was only just learning. It took a long time to get it right, he said, but the result was quite realistic. "I remember her pretty much teary-eyed."

He made just one copy, and it hangs in his mother's dining room in Torrance.

Dulay's second perfect gift was for his great-grandfather, a man of simple needs who had no use for modern luxuries. He had loved farming, Dulay said, but lacked the strength to do it anymore.

By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Shyana pulls her dad Steven Pratt with the help of her brother
and sister Steven Jr. and Sharde' in a wagon given as a gift to
the Pratt children when they were younger.

So Dulay "planted" some vegetables in his own yard -- carrots, turnips and other root plants that he could buy whole and bury in the dirt -- and called his great-grandfather to harvest them.

"We watched from the window and were as excited as he was! He had a wonderful time getting dirty again and reliving lost times."

Dulay's shared ideas won him a $100 gift certificate to Pearlridge (we had offered Ala Moana, but Pearlridge works out better for him).

Other ideas sent in by readers ran the gamut from sentimental to practical to just good fun. Some were pricey, others cost nearly nothing, but required an investment of time and consideration by the giver.

Listed below are our three runners-up (they win Star-Bulletin T-shirts) and a host of other good ideas. With luck, there's one here you can borrow to solve your worst gift-giving woe.

Runners-up

Verna Keb's brother Steve Pratt was the challenge. He didn't need or want anything and between work and sports commitments had little spare time.

Keb bought him a family pass to the Honolulu Zoo and a red wagon to pull his kids around in. She also loaded the wagon with a cooler of drinks and snacks and bird seed for the pigeons ("this is a no-no, but a few years back it was OK").

"My brother was forever grateful because with this gift he was forced to put aside some quality family time and finally got the chance to smell the pikake -- and the elephants."

Sometimes, you just have to think outside the box -- come up with a way to make something happen even when at first it seems impractical.

For example, Bernice Mattingly's gift for her husband, Arthur, last year: "He had always wanted a recliner, but said we didn't have room for it. So I surprised him by selling our loveseat and bought him his recliner. He loved it."

And sometimes, fate yields the perfect plan. After her father's death, Nohea Chang was sorting through his things and found an old, framed watercolor of a Japanese temple. It turned out to have been painted by her father's father, a man her family knew little about.

She had the painting copied, each copy matted and framed, and gave them to her sisters. "The painting is an appropriate, dignified and beautiful bridge between the grandfather we never knew, a father recently lost, and his daughters, grandchildren and great-grandchildren."

Personalized and perfect

L. Freitas-Asato shopped around for an inexpensive hole-in-one trophy and had it engraved for her husband, Darryl, to commemorate his singular golfing accomplishment.

"A trophy is fun ... and can memorialize any event, which makes it a very convenient gift for everyone."

Carla Lum's friend Stacy was the problem. "She returns everything you buy her and she's picky, picky, picky. I named a star after her! Try to return that!!"

Registering a star name costs $55.90 through the Ministry of Federal Star Registration (http://www.buyastar.com) and comes with certificate, gift card and sky chart for locating the personalized celestial body.

Candy Ponimoi bought her 84-year-old grandmother ("her values rest above material things") a Bible etched in 14-karat gold, with oversized type to make it easy for her to read and keep the faith.

Susan Burgos wanted something special for an ex-teacher, now age 97. "I called her church pastor and requested that their carolers sing Christmas carols at her door. In addition, I had them present her with a poinsettia plant and a card. She said it was the nicest gift she had ever received."

Roz Cole says her son can buy himself anything he wants, so gifts are difficult. But one year she made him an album containing family photos spanning his lifetime, as well as historical photos of his parents as children, his grandparents and great-grandparents. She also included his old report cards and certificates.

Susan Soken was tired of buying her husband aloha shirts, so once she got him a little satin box and marked it "Papa's Treasure Chest." Inside were photographs of their two daughters and a note: "We filled up this box with our love by blowing kisses into it. Whenever you feel sad or discouraged, open this box and take out one of our kisses ..."

Gifts of time

A night at the theater was Jen Davis' solution for her sister and Florence Fleischer's solution for her senior-citizen friends. Davis bought a dinner-theater package from Manoa Valley Theatre and Fleischer bought tickets to Diamond Head Theatre performances.

T.K. Perez suggests a year's housecleaning or yard service for elderly friends who have plenty of material things, but "little energy and strength."

A gift suggestion for busy moms: Linda Hutchinson bought her daughter a series of art classes, "which gave her time away from home and an outlet for her creative talent."

Loretta (she doesn't want her last name published) promised to take her mother-in-law to all her medical appointments, then accompany her through her shopping chores and to lunch.

Julie Kojima gave her husband, Kevin, five "checks" to be filled in and redeemed whenever he needed time for himself. She suggested a full day of television, full day of golf, no chores for a day, etc.

"He could use it for anything. The part that Kevin enjoyed the most was that by using these 'special checks' there were to be no questions, interruptions or nagging on my part."

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