A Crown Royal bag with 70 Loonie or Toonie coins in it :-)

The nicest gift would probably be all of you present rather than a physical gift. If you must give something perhaps a photo album compiled between all of you.

Sorry to be a downer but all too soon all of you may have to decide what to do with your parents' stuff. The reason I mention this is I have seen too many fights between siblings over the last gift they gave their parents when each thought it should go to them rather than one of the others or worse no one wants it.

@maifleur03 if that were possible, we would be. One sister lives on $1200 a month and can't afford food after household bills, let alone an airline ticket. I work retail and asking for time off a week before Christmas is asking to be fired. My younger sister will surely show up as she lives 5 minutes away. Not sure about the last one as she lives a few hours away and has to take a ferry as well. I did go visit them this summer for a week for the first time since Covid.

As for my parents "stuff", it's all expensive art. Their will is written so we don't have to worry about it. But thanks for making me think about them dead rather than be happy they've done something that most people never do: celebrate 70 years of marriage.

Deb that was not my intention. However, it is life and something to think about. I wrote it after going through stuff yesterday and finding an engraved decent quality "silver bowl" from when my FIL retired that no one wanted but it ended up in our basement when my husband and his brothers cleaned out the house.

hmm, that's a tough one. it sounds like they had a wonderful life together doing what they love, so i feel like time with family would be a great gift.

if u can get at least 2 of your sisters together, maybe have a their favorite dinner and dessert at your home with all the extended family that are able to attend.

if your one sister cannot, then face time her so she feels somewhat 'there' and part of it.

like you said, they don't need anything, so maybe a nice bottle of champagne, a wonderful dinnner and time with family seems like a great gift.

if u can't pull it together before the holiday, then celebrate after.

if u have time, get their photos/tapes etc., digitize them and show at the dinner or whatever gathering you have.

Thank you, @sprtphntc7a I sent the idea of a nice dinner out (which is hard because dad is very allergic to garlic) and a nice bottle of wine. My one sister did a video for them for their 50th and honestly there's not a lot to add to it as we aren't able to get together as often as we wish we could. But I'll see what I have from the past few years of visiting them and put something together for them.

Deb, maybe do a dinner at someone's house, or even theirs, then u can control the menu and everyone can stay longer.

That's great that u did the video for their 50TH!!!

it's really difficult finding gifts when they get that age... my mom passed in her late 70's and even that was hard. dad passed in early 60's...

Good Luck, i am sure whatever you girls do, they will be most appreciative! Enjoy your time together :)

My dad gave my grandparents a huge bell with a rope pull for their 55th anniversary. My grandfather had always wanted one. My grandfather had it mounted on a pole in the yard. My grandmother would ring it when she wanted grandpa to come in and eat or needed him. The grandkids had a great time playing with it. I loved it because it was ridiculous, but they got a lot of enjoyment out of it.

Do they have a favorite charity or cause you could contribute to in their names? Since they are art collectors, maybe a favorite museum? Adopt an endangered animal? Plant a tree? Make a wish?

Another idea... could you recreate something from when they met, married, or their first few years together... like maybe a picnic lunch, first date, movie they watched or something else like the car they drove or flowers, etc.?

Taking an idea from HU, another idea is to get a reproduction of the front page of a newspaper on the date that they married.

For my parents' 50th I contacted their friends and family and asked people to share memories...be it a note, photos, etc. I collected them all into a book which they really cherished.

What about a gift that would show your folks how much you all love them, and that you kids all are united and connected even though you live in different areas, etc.

I'm picturing a "round robin" letter, where one sibling would write up a memory, send it to next sibling, they'd add their memory and send it to sibling #3, etc. Finally send to parents. Parents feel good reading the memories and knowing the kids get along well enough to cooperate on a gift, etc.

Well, it's an idea, maybe it'll spark a better one.....

oh, and a box filled with 70 hershey kisses would be fun :-)

Congratulations on their 70th anniversary!!! It's inspiring.

My first stop when looking for special gifts is Etsy. Search for 70th anniversary gifts and maybe the results will spark inspiration for you. Congratulations to your parents!

It’s not as grand as the large pole mounted bell, but I love giving large (huge) wind chime sets to older anniversary couples. Depending on where they live, of course,

Do they have, or would they enjoy, a NetFlix, BritBox, or Prime subscriptiin?

For my in-laws, their children gave a party and the kids gave speeches. They were so touching, especially from the one who ran into the most issues as a kid, teen, young adult, and the support of his parents. It was lovely. I don’t think there were any gifts wrapped in paper, just in love.

Be a sport and everyone chip in to buy Sister a plane ticket. Have a get together after January 1. Your parents may enjoy the anticipation that everyone will be together. Hire a photographer for the occasion.

Perhaps an airline ticket for the sister who can’t make it? Or a donation in their name to a favourite cause? Or both?

That's such a wonderful milestone and definitely worth celebrating. Are there any grandchildren that could also be included? I still remember when my grandparents celebrated their 75th and their children and grandchildren were all able to attend. It was a large family and took a lot of planning. They had a photographer take a group photo that I still have. We did something similar when my parents celebrated their 50th.

Is it possible to discuss this with your parents? Perhaps they'd prefer a family get-together and would help with plane fare for your sister. Obviously I can only speak for myself but having my family together would be the best present I could wish for. Thank you for posting this because I probably wouldn't have given much thought to my own 50th which is coming this summer. But I think I'll plan something with my family to mark the occasion.

Maire

A card shower is always nice. Ask all the family and friends to send a note inside the card of fond memories. I did this for my parents and it was delightful. Cards arrived on different days but that did not matter.

@Rho Dodendron we would buy her a ticket to fly out for their anniversary but I would still be missing. I can't take any vacation time a week before Christmas. I work retail. It's blackout month for vacation.

When my parents had their 60th Anniversary, they celebrated it during the summer before. They hosted a huge party at their home. My children and I attended. Some of my sisters kids came (she has a LOT of kids) as did she. All my sisters were there, actually. They wanted to do the same this past summer for their 70th, but my nephew got married the same weekend and nobody could afford two trips to the west coast, so the wedding for my nephew took precedence. I do like some of the ideas above and will pass them on to my sisters. Thank you all for your ideas!

Deb---last time I looked at a Gregorian calendar January 1 is AFTER Christmas..

Rho, any day she misses in December can get her fired. Right? Even if she's fired on January 1st.

What does January 1st have to do with it? Their anniversary is in December. A week before christmas.

Also: I NEED my benefits which cost me $42 a month which covers my husbands $465 medication for his headaches and my dental benefits. If I get fired, i can't afford either. I love my parents but they would kill me if I took the chance to go see them and lose my job and benefits for them.

As for the "free" ticket for my sister? Let me telll you about her. She's uses the "woah, poor me" card ALL OF THE TIME. She was given a vacuum cleaner because her husband drank all their money. She was given snow suits and boots for all her kids (did I tell you she had 12 with her husband? one at a time?) because again: her husband drank all their money. She was given a mini van because her car broke down. She was given a fence for her yard because her grand daughter kept running amok when she was 3. She was given an entire renovation (completely gutted and rebuilt) basement. She was given an entire bathroom renovation. And that's off the top of my head. She has 13 kids in total: they can buy her a ticket.

Yikes, Deb, with that additional info I'd just send flowers and a card, and phone them on their special day. Well no, I'd mail them the 70 hershey's kisses instead of flowers.

Do your parents live where a dinner could be delivered? I’ve given gift cards from restaurants that do home delivery to friends who had knee replacement and they appreciated those.

My grandparent made it to 70 years, also, and the local paper wrote an article about them with pictures. Would they be up for that, maybe? You could have it framed for them.

@OutsidePlaying They've already got reservations at a nice restaurant for dinner. BTW: They're in perfect health. Nobody believes how old they are. They still live in their own home and maintain it themselves. I'm going to send my younger sister money to put towards the dinner and a big bouquet of flowers.

Thank you everyone for the ideas! Greatly appreciated.