Holiday helpers take note: Restaurant gift certificates, postage stamps and a little help around the house are the presents that please seniors

For holiday elves with seniors on their gift lists, the cranberry-juice glass is both half empty and half full. The shopping is either very easy or impossible, depending on how you look at it.

The tangible things they want are simple: Most AARP members gathered at a meeting late last month said they’d be delighted with gift certificates to local restaurants, and moderately priced ones at that. But the top spot on the wish list for many of them was something that is not sold in stores -- or on TV or online, either. Peace is not for sale. Neither is safe passage back home for Raymond and Gloria Andry’s two grandsons, who are in Afghanistan. But truth be told, they wouldn’t look good in gift wrap, anyway.

So in the meantime, here are some holiday gift ideas from two groups of seniors, many Web addresses, assisted living centers, one Dear Abby column, and a little pelican in a pear tree (not really).

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