Recently I've been given a very generous gift to help me and my wife from my parents. It's something I can't say no to without harming them for their offer, nor is it something I'll likely to be able to pay back.

My hesitation to just say thankyou and not feel like I'm taking advantage of them, has given me this question for any of you.

How do you handle a generous gift that you are unlikely to be able to repay?

Do you accept it warmly and say thank you? Do you reject it because it's too much? Or are you somewhere in between. Accept it with guilt, or with hopes of paying them back?

It's just an intreasting though.mmsomething that might be intreasting to hear how eachother reacts to being given a gift.

//It's something I can't say no to without harming them for their offer//

Nah, rubbish. You just say 'Sorry, I can't accept this'. They're your parents, for heavens sake. I'm sure they're still going to understand that you love them even if you refuse a gift.

Not_Now.Soon
You've already answered your own question, it was & is a GIFT.
Appreciate their kindness & thoughts. It dos not require returning the favour because kindness is not a competition. Simply extend your own kindness to all around you.

I've seen a relevant quote attributed to A L Brown:
"If you can't return a favour, pass it on."

N.N.S

The only person who can answer your question is you. Never rely on complete strangers; they have no skin in the game, and no qualifications to help you.

Not_Now.Soon, simply accept it with long life gratitude.

Repay them by making sure they never have to go into a nursing home, & both of you will have your reward.

Well into my retirement now I have become aware that I should have given more to my kids, before the restriction of gift giving by anyone receiving any pension came into effect. The fact is now, that some nursing home may become richer than necessary.

I should have down sized & distributed the cash when I could.