Describe a gift you gave to someone.

One gift that really stands out in my mind is a customised photo book I made for my best friend, Sarah. Instead of buying something off the shelf, I collected our favourite photos from the last ten years – school trips, awkward teenage phases, and some really special moments from university – and turned them into a sort of visual timeline of our friendship.

I gave it to her on her twenty-fifth birthday. We’d promised each other we wouldn’t spend a lot of money that year, so I wanted to give her something personal rather than expensive. I spent a couple of weeks secretly messaging her family and close friends to ask for hidden gems – childhood photos, screenshots of funny chats, even a picture of a note she’d written when she was little. Then I added short captions and little inside jokes under each picture.

I chose that gift because, to be honest, she’s not very materialistic. Whenever I’ve given her things like perfume or jewellery in the past, she’s appreciated them but then they’ve just ended up in a drawer. What really matters to her is shared experiences and memories, so I figured a photo book would capture that perfectly. Plus, I wanted something she could leaf through whenever she felt nostalgic or a bit low.

When she opened it, she was completely taken aback. At first she laughed at the ridiculous old photos, but then, as she turned the pages, she actually started tearing up. She kept saying, “I can’t believe you remembered this,” over and over again. Her reaction made all the effort worthwhile, and I felt we’d somehow strengthened our friendship just by reliving those moments together.