This week I did something that I never thought I would do.
My 11th wedding anniversary is tomorrow (woot!). I couldn't think of anything steel to give to my wife, and I had no other leads. I wandered into Michael's the other day, looking for inspiration, and suddenly it hit me.
A scrapbook!
My wife is an avid scrapbooker, and she has always tried to get me involved in it, saying that it's not just a thing for women. I've always told her that because I'm so gifted in the arts and crafts area that if I started scrapbooking I would soon intimidate her, and it's for this very reason that I don't intend to keep scrapbooking (heh). But I wanted to do it this one time, out of pure love. I picked up a medium sized book with 10 pages in it and a few supplies.
I told her that I was working on her gift and that she couldn't bother me in the basement for the past few nights. The first night - Tuesday - I spent scanning through old photos from when we met, our courtship, our wedding, the children we've brought into the world, and life in general. I picked out 34 photos which touched on a little bit of everything and mapped out which ones would go on which pages.
The next day - Wednesday - I took the original photo prints and a USB stick with some digital pictures on it and had them reprinted during my lunch break. On the way home on the bus, I wrote a couple of poems to put in the book on the first and last pages. Once the kids were in bed I sequestered myself in the basement again and cropped photos, stuck them on the pages, and added a few thematic flourishes.
Too anxious to wait for our formal anniversary (it's not like sex, where you have to wait for the wedding date), I presented it to her last night - Thursday - and was shocked to discover that she had no idea that I was working on a scrapbook. She thought I had been doing something with steel. But she loved it.
It was a profound experience for me, as I was amazed at how my love and affection for her grew as I immersed myself into our memories.
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Hey James, will you please give a lesson to my husband, Steph, in the art of romance and thoughtfullness. He seems to lack the drive to sweep me off my feet.
ReplyDeleteVery romantic, you are one of a kind, and i mean that in a good way.
have a good day, and Happy Anniversary!!
Jenn