I can honestly say that I've never received a gift quite like this - and frankly, if you'd told me that this is what I would be receiving, I'd never have believed you. Let me walk you through the experience of receiving the package I retrieved from the mailbox today, so that you might share in my flummoxing journey.

When I descended the stairs and saw the package in the box, I was excited. My Arbitrary Day gift has arrived! What could it be? It felt reasonably heavy and boxy, and I thought it might be a book or two - reasonable, since I'm a big reader. After returning to my apartment, I laid it out on the floor to open (my cat Arya assisting me, of course). I pulled out a whole bundle of things, with a VHS copy of The Last Unicorn on top, with a note hoping that I owned a VHS player. Alas, I do not. It's an interesting piece of my childhood nonetheless.

The second part of the bundle proved to be three book covers (meant to be put over the top of books when you read them, so the covers are kept nice). One even had a little Snoo drawn inside. Next was a little envelope with gears in it; I'm a crafty type, so these will come in handy.

Now, you're probably thinking, "Sudenveri, all this seems pretty logical, given your interests. Why would this be so incredible?" Well, gentle reader, that's where the last part of the package comes in. I pulled out a little bundle that had a heavy pendant in it (an octopus; octopodes are cool), and a little vial.

With ashes and bone fragments inside.

Now, this by itself wouldn't have thrown me for a loop - I actually love dead animal parts, and have a few pelts up on my walls as well as a curiosity cabinet with bones, teeth, minerals, and other such things displayed in it. So what was the big deal?

The ashes are (were?) my gifter's grandfather.

Holy crap. For a weird, morbid, Victorian-sentimental chick, this is amazing, and, as I mentioned, something I never, ever, ever would have expected.

If you are reading this, dear gifter, your grandfather rests among the other departed souls in my home, sharing a shelf with a beaver skull, some coyote jaws and femurs, a fossilized fish, and a medical model of a human skull.

And you, dear reader, are now privy to the fact that reddit is a mind-boggingly weird and awesome place.