Sophomore Addison Groesser donated $450 to the Kid’s Food Basket as a fifth grader. 

This wasn’t $450 of money she just had lying around her bedroom; rather, it was the sum of every gift she would have received for Christmas that year. 

“There was a [Kid’s Food Basket] drive,” Addison said. “There was a goal of how much money we should make, so for Christmas, I asked everybody who was giving me a gift to just give me money so that I could donate it.”

This was the most prominent experience that helped Addison realize one of her greatest passions and love languages: gift-giving. 

Like many people, Addison loves making others happy, and she does this by giving to the people she cares about.

“I am the type of person who likes to make other people happy,” Addison said. “It makes me happy to see that other people can be happier if I do something for them, and I think it’s also one of my love languages. It’s how I show people that I love them.”

The things she gives, though, aren’t things that can be found in a local Walmart or even on Amazon—they’re handmade and personal. 

She takes the time to make the gifts rather than buy them. In this, she can express her appreciation through homemade, individualized gifts for the people she loves.

“I really like doing crafts for people,” Addison said. “I make bead bracelets and necklaces, and I like to do things that can match [the person’s] personality and give things that are special to them.”

When she’s not doing jewelry or crafts of the sort, she resorts to the more uniquely personal gifts for her loved ones. 

Particularly, ones involving pictures of them together. 

“Usually, I like to get a nice picture frame,” Addison explained, “and I’ll put one of my favorite pictures of me with that person because that shows both the gift giving and the quality time love languages. I think that’s kind of two gifts in one.”

With the holidays coming up, Addison’s passion gives her a bit of an advantage in terms of making sure everybody is accounted for. This is the time of year that may as well have been made for her.

Despite this, though, even the thing she feels so strongly about can feel like an obligation sometimes.

“I think society has built it [to seem like an obligation],” Addison explained. “I enjoy giving gifts all throughout the year when I can. I feel like it’s a lot more special. Obviously, the holidays are still special, so it still feels nice to be able to do stuff for other people.”

Addison wholeheartedly believes that if more people would share this same passion, the world would be a happier place. 

Not just around the holidays, but year-round. The presence of this love, not just during the holiday season, can be so amazing to so many people.

“I like giving gifts more than receiving them,” Addison said. “But, even when I do receive them, it reminds me that people love me, and that’s really important. It’s big for a lot of people, so I think it would make a lot of people happier if they knew that people love them and that they have the ability to show that same love back.” 

In our world today, it can be difficult to express love. With stigmas around certain things in the media and the fear of being judged, many people don’t feel that they can effectively show their love and the extent to which they love the people in their lives.

In Addison’s life, she is able to keep this quality at the forefront of her mindset and allow it to be one of her priorities, which allows for so much more love in her life. Her relationships with her loved ones can withstand a lot more than many likely can, and that is a beautiful thing.

“We all feel, sometimes, like we’re unloved and that nobody cares for us,” Addison said. “But, if you show other people first how much you love them, then they’re a lot more likely to show their ways of loving you. I think that gift-giving is one of those ways.”