Gifts That Make People Cry Happy Tears

You want to give a gift that stops someone for a second and makes their eyes fill up, in the best way. The gifts that make people cry are the ones that prove you paid attention: they bring back a person, a place or a time they thought was gone. Price has very little to do with it. Our top pick is a song about their life, because hearing their own story set to music catches almost everyone off guard.

Listen to a Songbond song first

This one was made for another family. Yours would carry their name and your stories.

12 gifts that make people cry

1. A song about their life ($39.90). Share the names, nicknames and moments that matter, and Songbond turns them into an original song, ready within 24 hours. It is hard to hear your own life sung back to you and stay dry-eyed.
2. A restored old photo. Take a faded or torn photo of their parents or their childhood home to a restoration service. Usually $30 to $100, and once framed it looks new.
3. A recipe in a loved one's handwriting. Scan a recipe card written by their late mother or grandmother and have it printed on a tea towel or engraved on a cutting board. Usually $30 to $70.
4. Letters from people they have lost touch with. Track down an old roommate, a first boss, a childhood neighbor, and ask each for a short letter. Collect them in one box and give it all at once.
5. Old home movies, digitized. Send the tapes from the attic to a transfer service, usually $20 to $40 a tape, and give them a thumb drive with a note. Watching their younger selves move and talk is a lot.
6. A surprise visit. Fly in the sibling who lives across the country, or drive the grandkids six hours. Sometimes the gift is a person at the door.
7. A quilt made from old shirts. Baby clothes, concert T-shirts, a late dad's flannel shirts. Quilters usually charge $150 to $400.
8. A trip back to where they grew up. Drive past the old house, eat at the diner if it is still open, find the school. Then let them tell the stories.
9. A framed drawing from their childhood. If their parents kept it, frame their artwork from age six next to a drawing by their own kids.
10. An heirloom, passed on early. The watch, the ring or the pocketknife you meant to leave them, given now with a letter about where it came from.
11. A book of what their kids think of them. Ask each child or grandchild to finish the same five sentences, then print the answers in a small book. Photo book services charge about $30 to $60.
12. A portrait of a pet they miss. A painted portrait from a favorite photo, usually $60 to $200. Keep the moment gentle and give it quietly.

How to choose the gift that will move them

Think about what they miss. Most happy tears come from something that was lost and comes back: a voice, a place, a person, a time when the kids were small. Start with that and work forward.

• If they are missing someone who has passed: the recipe in that person's handwriting or the restored photo.
• If they are far from family: the surprise visit or the book of what their kids think.
• If they are nostalgic for the old days: the home movies or the trip back home.

How to give a gift that might make them cry

Give it somewhere they can feel it without an audience. A room full of cousins and raised phones can turn a tender moment into something they have to manage. Tell them it is a sentimental gift before they open it, so they are not caught off guard. Keep tissues nearby without making a show of it. Do not film the reaction unless you ask first, because some people cry freely and some would rather not be watched. Then sit with them afterwards. Often the best part of the gift is the story they tell you once they can talk.

Make a song that brings back their story

Make a custom song about their life from your stories. It is ready within 24 hours, and express delivery gets it to you in about an hour.

Also in the Journal: anniversary songs for parents and thank-you songs for Dad.