This post has not been edited by the GamesBeat staff. Opinions by GamesBeat community writers do not necessarily reflect those of the staff.

The best gaming-related Christmas gift I ever received was a coffee cup with candles inside. That might not seem like it’s gaming-related, but bear with me for a moment.

Over the summer, one of my coworkers told me that her 12-year-old son Jake had scrapped and saved for a year in order to buy himself a PlayStation 3. This is no small feat when your only source of income is lawn mowing and other odd jobs (he doesn't receive an allowance). Unfortunately for Jake, the high cost of games meant that he could only afford Call of Duty 4, and with school starting he probably wouldn't get any others until Christmas.

I don't know Jake, but I love his mom and have known her for years (I even attended her wedding as an infant), so I dug through my ever-growing collection for some games that would be appropriate for a kid. I let him borrow LittleBigPlanet and Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection, and I decided to gift him Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Street Fighter 4 (when his parents first met they played Street Fighter 2 together, how cute is that?), and Madden NFL 10.

 

I had planned on lending him some more, but I honestly forgot about it after a while. Jake didn't forget me though, as this week his mom came into my office with the aforementioned coffee cup and a sweet little note: "Thanks for all the games!" Apparently Jake bought it for me at his school's Santa Shop.

I had been stressing out about Christmas when I came into work that morning. I still had shopping to do, gifts to wrap, and food to prepare, but then this one gift brought me so much joy that I remembered what this season is supposed to be about: Giving video games to people.

Merry Christmas, everyone!