What would you want in a care package?

[snowy_owl]

One of my best friends is moving away within the month. I won't be able to go visit her, because she's moving more than 1000 miles from where we are now. And I know she's having a really really really hard time, not least because her parents are abusive and she is struggling with bulimia.

I have had issues with disordered eating to some minor degree in the past, but she's really got it awfully bad, to the point where she and I both think she should be inpatient. But she doesn't have health insurance or a job, and her parents are really really abusive, so they would not help her, just ridicule her. The other day, she could barely breathe and kept fainting, and her mom yelled at her for inconveniencing her.

Anyway, I'd like to send her a care package when she gets to her new place, but I don't know what would be appropriate and what might be triggering. Here's what I'm thinking:

* a bottle of multivitamins
* some powdered gatorade or similar (for the electrolytes)
* a nice card
* a small stuffed animal
* some photos from our home state
* a mix CD

What kind of stuff would you find helpful? And what kind of stuff would you find harmful? I really want the best for her, but I don't know how to help.

[Emilie.]

I'm sorry your friend is moving away, and that she's struggling so much. What you're doing for her is a really nice thing x
Having lost my best friend, I know that what helps me the most when I miss him too much is to think of all our beautiful and fun memories together. You could write down fun and beautiful memories on paper, crumble it together, and have them all in a jar. Mark it as "memory jar", it'll be a wonderful gift to cheer her up.
However, candies and stuff might be triggering, so I'd stay away from that.
Good luck! x

[Too Shy]

This is such a lovely thing to do, you sound like a really great friend.

LittleEmily's suggestion sounds great, writing down the memories you've had together and putting them in a jar.

How about some distraction type things, like a colouring book, a puzzle book or a book of crosswords?

I like little books of quotes and things like that too. You can get some like '365 days of happiness', '365 days of inspiration', '365 days of mindfulness' etc, so there's a new one for each day of the year. I gave them to some of my friends when they were discharged from inpatient and they seemed to like it.

A mini hot water bottle or some fluffy slipper socks for comfort?