Not all #CBCGreatestGift stories start in a store

When CBC asked you to tell us about the best gift you'd ever been given, we secretly hoped you'd make our hearts sing.

Turns out, some of your stories are making us swoon a little.

Deanne Hemphill of Dartmouth wrote about the Christmas the Cabbage Patch Kids were all the rage, back in 1983. At seven years old, her daughter wanted nothing more than for Santa to bring her a Cabbage Patch doll. But they were almost impossible to find.

"You can imagine the dilemma I faced," Hemphill wrote. "How to deal with not being able to provide the one toy she wished for and shaking her faith in Santa at such a tender age."

Hemphill's friend had ordered a doll as a gift long before the Cabbage Patch craze took off. When the doll arrived at the store, her friend offered the doll for Hemphill's daughter.

"Santa was able to deliver for my little girl that year in spite of the odds, all thanks to the generosity of that wonderful woman," said Hemphill.

"My daughter was blissfully unaware of the circumstances surrounding that particular present under the tree, but I have never forgotten the act of kindness that put it there."

Surprise visit

Trudy MacDonald's greatest gift was a surprise visit from her daughter, Karen. She'd moved to the Northwest Territories and wasn't able to make it home to Prince Edward Island for Christmas.

Or so she said.

Just before Christmas, there was a knock on the door.

"In the dim light of the entry stands a stranger, a beautiful long-haired blond in a dark coat," MacDonald wrote.

"I greet her and several seconds pass before I really see her face. 'Oh my gosh!! It's Karen. It's Karen, home for Christmas!' The memory still brings happy tears."

'Being a Canadian is a gift'

Some gifts are impossible to put a price on.

Nova Scotian Peter Barrett wrote from Erbil, Iraq, where he's lived with his family for the past couple of years.

"I can't be but influenced from my current surroundings," wrote Barrett.

"What is the Greatest Gift ever given? It would have to be my parents, Peter and Gayle Barrett, giving me the gift of life as a Canadian. After seeing what we have seen and living in this part of the world being a Canadian is a gift like no other: Priceless!"

We'd love to hear your story of the best gift in your memory. You can add your story in the comments below, email cbcns@cbc.ca or tweet us using #CBCGreatestGift.