One of your family members or friends is turning 70 and you have to choose a gift. Seventy-year olds today are more active and in better health than ever before. While they may have slowed down a little, they have yet to give up their favorite activities, and are still enjoying the outdoors and travel, hobbies and time with children and grandchildren.
A time to reminisce over happy memories while enjoying life as a retiree and looking forward to a few more adventures, turning 70 is a great opportunity to give your relative or close friend a special gift.
We all have happy memories of childhood. What was it that this person enjoyed? Items and brands that were popular sixty years ago such as candy, gum, comic books and magazines are available online and at certain specialty stores. What about his or her favorite movie? Try making a gift basket including a DVD, movie poster, and photocopy of a magazine review from the time of the initial release. The same can be done with television series as many of them are now on DVD or blu ray. Swamp Fox, Leave It To Beaver, Davy Crockett are all possible 70th birthday gifts for men. For a truly memorable 70th birthday gift, consider a framed print or image of a place or location that has special significance for the individual. When my grandmother turned 70 we arranged for a local artist to produce
a painting of the old farmhouse that she had grown up in, and she still says that this was her favorite gift of all time.
Today’s 70 year olds are healthy busy people, yet there are some activities that they may appreciate getting a hand with. Gift certificates for lawn maintenance, snow-plowing or snow-shovelling, house-cleaning, or even grocery delivery are great gifts for those who say “don’t get me anything!” Today there are several electronic or digital items that can make life easier for seniors, such as a universal remote control. Harmony or universal remote controls work well as a joint gift between children and grandchildren; mom and dad can pay for it and the kids can program it as their gift for grandma! If the birthday girl or boy is beginning to experience vision problems, arthritis or joint problems, a large-button telephone or remote control are two more useful items.
As people enter their seventh decade, they often experience the feeling that this may be their last opportunity to try something they have always wanted to do. Though more people are living comfortably well into their nineties, there is a significant decrease in physical activity and travel amongst people over 80. Has your father or mother always wanted to take a cruise? Adult children of large families may be able to split the cost to send mom and dad to the Caribbean or on some other dream trip. If they are already travellers, there are lots of gifts out there; money-belts, luggage, travel journals, airplane pillows, or a digital camera. Perhaps the travelling they are doing is just around the neighborhood – encourage walking with a gift of good walking shoes, a pedometer, fanny pack for keys or water bottle, and hat or sunglasses. If they live in a cold climate, consider exercise equipment such as a treadmill to encourage activity when the weather is poor.
70th birthday gifts for women who like to garden can include gardening gloves that are made to protect expensive manicures, knee pads, women sized trowels and rakes, and there are many lovely garden ornaments of various sizes, shapes and prices. For seventy-year-olds whose health restricts their physical activities, a “coffee-table book” on one of their favorite activities or places is a good choice.
Finally, family and close friends become dearer as we age. If the person turning 70 has a computer, do they have a web-cam to help communicate with long-distance relatives? What about a good quality printer to print out the digital family pictures children or nieces and nephews send? Some older people don’t have any intentions of getting a computer. A digital picture frame, loaded with images of loved ones and updated when you visit them is a thoughtful gift. If you are on a tight budget, consider making a framed collage of family photos, or collecting birthday greetings from far-flung well-wishers and arranging
them into a scrapbook.
This birthday is an important event, and your choice of present should reflect that. The most special 70th birthday gifts show the recipient that you care enough to have spent some time and done some planning to honor them on this milestone birthday.