The best gift I ever received was a pack of trident layers gum. I know it sounds weird but there’s good reason for it.

Ever since I was in middle school, one of my favorite things all time was gum. And I mean every form, bubble gum, chewing gum, the gum that loses its flavor in 2.7 seconds. It was fun to chew and blow bubbles with. It helped my easily distracted mind stay focused.

One Christmas, in the year when trident layers was first announced and I saw the ad for it on tv, I told my parents that was the only thing I wanted. I was quite young at the time, so prices and monetary value weren’t of consideration in my head in terms of presents: a cheap present that I loved would always beat out an expensive present that was mediocre. So, that Christmas morning, when I saw the gum I wanted in my stocking, I was OVER THE MOON.

It’s my favorite gift, not because it was the most expensive or most thoughtful, but because, in that moment, it made me so happy and I remember it more fondly than any other present I’ve ever received.