DEAR ABBY: My husband and I have been lucky enough to travel all over the world during our long marriage. Over the years, we collected lovely items from every location.
Now that we are older, we have decided to move into a smaller home, and would like to share these lovely souvenirs with our friends. Although I think "Ellen" would love to have one of my silk scarves, and "Peter" would appreciate a pair of my husband's marble bookends, or "Annemarie" would cherish my necklace from India, etc., I'm unsure that my choices would be their choices.
Would it be proper for us to ask our friends to choose among our treasure rather than our making the choice for them? -- WORLD TRAVELER IN MIAMI BEACH
DEAR WORLD TRAVELER: I commend you for your generosity; however, you might run into trouble if several of your friends choose the same item. Were I in your shoes, I would make the selection for each of them. (Include a note with the gift -- i.e., "Ellen, this scarf matches your eyes," "Annemarie, I know you love ethnic jewelry," etc.)