The first Christmas gift I recall receiving was a copy of the Big Golden Encyclopedia.  It was given to me by a favorite cousin, but unfortunately, I was too immature to appreciate it at the time.  She gave my sister a toy, and I was jealous almost to the point of tears.

But long after the toy had broken, the encyclopedia was a treasured possession.  I spent hours poring over the colorful pictures and simple descriptions of continents and animals and houses and transportation from all over the world.  And the book held up well enough that my children were able to look through it when they were young.

Some show an unexpected awareness.

When I graduated from high school, another cousin gave me a paperback thesaurus.  He was in college, and I’d already shown some interest in writing.  I was flattered that he’d taken my aspirations seriously and given me one of the first tools of my trade.

Some involve thoughtful coordination.

For our 25th anniversary, our children got us tickets to Les Miserables and reserved a room in a hotel.  When friends asked what they could get, the kids suggested dinner at a restaurant near the theater.  It was an unforgettable night.

Some are meant to be shared.

When I turned 50, our daughter hosted a party of friends from three decades and several contexts of my life.  One brought flowers for the table, another a cake, and yet another made a video of the event.  Because we were mixing people who didn’t know each other, we played a “get-acquainted” game in which we listed an unusual detail about each guest.  People who were special to me got to know each other as they matched the person with an interest or experience.

Some are unexpected.

I was touched when an elder gave me a nice pen one Christmas when I was working for the church.  He assumed I’d lose it, but I still use it almost daily.

Some are extravagant.

The most extravagant gift I ever received was when our daughter gave my husband and me gifts of foreign travel.  First, she gave me a trip to England, and Frank came, too.  Later, she sent him to Italy, and I tagged along.  These trips were my only experiences in foreign countries, except for crossing the border into Juarez and Tijuana.

Some are combinations.

Our son saw to it that the whole family was able to see all three movies of the Lord of the Rings series in a nice theater, making it a special shared experience the whole family enjoyed.

Some are gifts of talents.

My husband designed, improves and maintains one of the best gifts I’ve ever received — this Web site.  He’s put untold hours into making it a source of pleasure for me, and I hope for those who read it.

Gifts don’t have to be expensive, but most of those we remember show the thought and effort that went into making them just right for us.

At long last an official body of the city government — the Human Relations Commission — has promised to mediate the dispute over the boundary between the Mar Vista and Palms neighborhood councils.

What should we ask for in an eventual settlement?

Here is the minimum:

1. We seek an outreach and information campaign, sponsored and paid for by the Human Relations Commission, which will reach into every house, office and apartment in Westside Village.

This, of course, would involve a direct-mail endeavor that would leap over those apartment gates which are seldom breached in any other way.

2. We expect the HRC to identify the key people who could speak and craft the arguments for and against changing the status of Westside Village.

3. We expect the HRC, along with the people on each side, to cooperatively schedule and hold community information outreach at such places as:

• Charnock, Clover and Palms Middle PTSA meetings.
• A student assembly at Palms Middle School (nothing builds democracy better than instilling it in our young people).
• A debate in government classes at Hamilton High School.
• Our churches and synagogue on National Blvd.
• The annual meeting of the Westside Village Civic Assn.
• Board or annual meetings of the cooperative apartment assns. on Sepulveda Blvd.
• Representative assns. of UCLA family housing, also on Sepulveda Blvd.

4. We expect the HRC to work with the Palms Neighborhood Council to craft the necessary amendments to the Palms bylaws allowing the forming of a new Palms-Westside Village Neighborhood Council, including the number of Assembly representatives and where district boundary lines might be drawn.

5. The controversy should be resolved by a vote of the stakeholders of Westside Village. It might be held in conjunction with the election of the Mar Vista Community Council in March 2006, but it must be held in Westside Village and not in Mar Vista.