Every year, it’s the same. As the date of my husband’s birthday approaches, I’m thrown into a mild panic, wondering what to get him. Whenever I ask what he wants, Sandy says “I’m good.” Or he’ll take me in his arms and say, “I have everything I want right here.” (Corny, you might think, but I fall for it each time.) He’s the gearhead who’d have to stifle a laugh at my pathetic ignorance if I were to gift him with electronics that would no doubt be something he already had or from two generations ago. He’s the motorhead without a garage to park a car in. He’s the clotheshorse (not) who wears the same style of clothes whatever else might hang in his closet. He’s the shutterbug who has more camera equipment than a National Geographic photographer. You see why I’m stumped.
Also, we’re talking about a guy who always goes all out for my birthday every year. He gives me, not one but three birthday cards with a handwritten sentiment because he claims he can’t fit everything he feels for me on one card. He gives me thoughtful gifts he picked out or something he remembered I told him I wanted or needed from way back. One year, he gifted me with a pair of earrings I’d admired in a jewelry shop in Santa Fe when we were vacationing there. This year, one of his gifts to me was a framed photo he’d taken of me with my friend Jon who passed away last year. It sits on a table in my living room, a daily reminder of my love for Jon and my husband’s thoughtfulness in giving it to me.
This year, I wracked my brain and came up with four gift ideas for Sandy, all things I thought he could use or that I knew he’d wanted. One of them, a box of his favorite maple candies, arrived in the mail two days before the very same maple candy that he’d ordered, not knowing I’d already gotten it for him. I laughed—it was too funny not to—and gave him the candy I’d ordered as an early gift. Now he has two boxes to plow through. The other gifts, I hope he likes. I think he will. If he doesn’t, he’ll appreciate my effort. Shhh. I’m not saying what they are. In case he reads this, I want him to be surprised.
