I had been planning what I was going to get E for Valentines practically from day one. He told me his favorite football player of all time was Dick Butkus. Now, not being a football...person, I had a vague idea of who this was. I knew he played for the Bears (E's FAVORITE team) back in the 60s. And that's about it.
So, I did what I do with EVERYTHING I don't know much about...I Googled. Oh yes, I Googled everything I could possibly think of about Dick Butkus. Who he was, what position he played, his life story. You name it - I Googled it.
I kept wracking my brains to figure out how I could parlay this into a gift of some sort. E has tons of jerseys with all different numbers so that was kind of out. I figured since he had a Butkus jersey, another one would be sort of a drop in the bucket. Not that he wouldn't appreciate it, but I just wanted to do something different for him.
Then the light bulb popped on. *ding!* Yes, it "dinged". Don't judge my light bulb.
Anyhoo. I started nosing through E's Bears memorabilia to see if he had any autographs from Mr. Butkus. I couldn't find any in his stash so I started to plan. Oh yes...plan I did. And I Googled. Mreh heh.
Turns out, Mr. Butkus sells autographed pictures on his website. Who knew?! Perfect, I thought. I just needed the right picture. So I started digging through the pictures that were available and then I stumbled across this one:
Perfect.
Here he was, holding back the Packers from the goal line. E HATES the Packers. I suppose if you're a Chicago fan, that's kind of a given. Anyhow, given that this season the Bears didn't make it to the Super Bowl and the Packers did, I knew E was bummed out beyond belief. And when I saw this picture, I knew it was perfect. So, I went ahead and ordered it with Dick Butkus' autograph.
I swear, when E opened this up, it was like a kid at Christmas. He hugged it.
Hugged. It.
It was the cutest thing I have ever seen. Just to see the smile break out over his face when he processed what this actually was was the best part for me. To see his genuine satisfaction at what was sitting his hands was priceless to me. Priceless.
As for me, E did a great job at getting my gift. I told him I wanted office supplies. Lucky for me, he didn't take me at my word. For a while now I have been looking for a cross necklace. I hadn't mentioned this to E or to anyone else for that matter. My faith is of a quieter nature. Always has been. It's something I feel that is between me and my Creator.
Anyhow, he gave me this little red bag and inside was this:
The most perfect cross necklace.
It's something I would have chosen for myself. It's delicate and understated. That's my thing - understated elegance. I have never been one for flashy jewelry and this is just perfect. The fact that he got this on his own, without any suggestion or hint from me was so wonderful. It literally rendered me speechless. I honestly didn't know what to do. I just sat there for a good minute or two, just looking at it. Poor man must have thought I hated it!
But no. It was perfect.
We spent the rest of the weekend together, running errands, watching movies, and eating really really bad food. I must say, it was the best Valentine's Day I have ever had. Those are the things that mean the most to me. Not the fancy dinners or the expensive gifts. But the time when you can just...be. The times when you do the mundane things and have fun while doing them. Those are what make life romantic, in my opinion. Maybe I'm low maintenance when it comes to things like that, but dangit, they make me happy.
Not to say E isn't a romantic. He is. Take our first kiss, for example.
Let me set the scene for you: Christmas Night. Candle light, soft glow of twinkling Christmas lights, St. Augustine historic district, old love songs being sung in the background, more specifically: Etta James - "At Last". Yeah - you just don't get more romantic than that friends.
*ahem* Anyways.
Like I said, best Valentines ever. Hope you all had a lovely day, weekend, evening....thing.
Next time - St. Patty's Day wreath! Woohoo!!
-A
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