During his Rite of Passage weekend, a special gift should be given to your son to commemorate his entrance into manhood. This gift is more than a birthday present; this is your opportunity to give your son a family heirloom, something that has sentimental value. By giving him a family heirloom, you are acknowledging that you trust his ability to care for something that has meaning to you and your family. It is a sign that you recognize that he can handle the responsibility of caring for something that is very special.
Items that you may consider giving to your son include a high-quality hand tool, a watch, valuable coins, or a pocket knife. Ideally, the gift is something that was handed down to you by your own father. While this was not a requirement, it is nice to pass something down that has been in the family for multiple generations.
When you present the gift to your son, try to do so in a manner that will leave a lasting impression. Recount the circumstances surrounding how you obtained the item and any special meaning that it has to you. You could even write a short letter to accompany the gift, summarizing its background history and what it means to you. Your son will most likely forget these details as he gets older, so by giving a letter to accompany the gift, your son will have something to reference back to in the future.
When I was sixteen years old, my father gave me fifty Peace and Morgan silver dollars. He originally purchased these silver dollars while he was serving in the Navy and gave them to me as a birthday gift. So, for each of my sons’ Rite of Passage weekends, I decided to give them one of the most valuable of these silver-dollar coins. They had many attributes that lent themselves to being appropriate gifts: they were old (between seventy-five and one hundred years), had beautiful detail, and were in pristine condition.
When I presented the coins to my sons, I assured each of them that I was confident that I could trust them to treat the coins properly and that they would hold on to them for years to come. I told my sons how much detail went into making a proof coin, why that made it special and unique, and explained to them that they, too, were unique and pristine in God’s eyes.
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