Yesterday's the past and tomorrow's the future. Today is a gift - which is why they call it the present
Every day is an amazing day! And I mean every day!
One of my all time favorite Christmas presents wasn’t actually the gift, but how it was presented to me.
Twenty-one years ago my husband and I were newlyweds in our first apartment together. He was actually still trying to impress me. That is one of my love languages. Subtle surprises with a lot of thought behind it. I can’t quite remember all the details behind the actual gift but I must say he put a lot of thought into how he was going to give it to me.
Christmas Eve 1990 we were excited to be sharing our first together as a married couple. I was tired after a day of active people watching at the Mall. That was one thing we loved to do. It was especially fun on Christmas Eve because we were done with our shopping and we just sat and watched all the people scurrying around with crazed looks on their faces in a panic to find last minute gifts, something… anything. After our fun day at the mall and a leisure night, I eventually kissed my husband and said goodnight knowing he had ‘something’ to do.
Just like any kid around Christmas time, the anticipation of what gifts I might be getting was killing me, but I was truly exhausted and fell sound asleep. Christmas morning we woke together. My husband is ever and always the cool one, he has this smirk on his face when he is up to something, but that’s all I know. As we got out of bed I noticed from the hallway in our small apartment that there was an extra bright light shinning. I thought that maybe he upped the tree lights in the living room. He kind of shoved me forward out of our master suite and I peeked around the door frame. He was still pushing me a bit and I became very nervous.
Not only was the tree on and lit, but there was a person standing next to the tree with a spotlight on them! I was surprised and turned around into him screaming and stomping my feet slapping him with my hand… “Oh my God, there is someone standing there!!” With a laughing grin on his face, he turned me around and pushed me forward. In cartoons the characters put the brakes on, I was actually planting my feet into the carpeting and he kept shoving me forward.
Now what’s worse is that I have very poor eyesight, I need help from my contacts and glasses. My glasses prescription isn’t always the best, it relieves me from constant eye fatigue that I might get from wearing my contacts ALL the time. So, the person next to the tree was really fuzzy looking from that distance. He finally dragged me literally kicking and screaming toward the tree where I finally saw that it was a full mannequin dressed in a brand new outfit, my Christmas present from my new husband.
I looked at him and we both fell back laughing really hard. I didn’t stop lovingly slapping him in shock and disbelief.
That dear sweet man had gone out and first of all, found and bought an outfit from head to toe that I had commented on while window shopping. Then he placed many phone calls trying to find a store to rent a full bodied mannequin. He then while I ‘slept’, dressed the mannequin, placed it by the tree, set up a spotlight and got it ready to flip the switch so that before I woke on Christmas morning it was styled and waiting for me!
Like I said at the beginning, every day is an amazing day. With the technology available now, it has become a trend to record special moments in a couple’s life. Recently I have been watching YouTube snippets of marriage proposals. The thought and planning that goes on for some of these events is just mind boggling. It would be amazing if my hubby had been able to record his thoughts and ideas of planning my special present. Here he is walking into a rental shop looking for a body, then bringing it out in pieces and putting it in the trunk of his car. Waiting for me to go to bed and the nervousness he felt putting the clothes on and getting the body together. Then as he nudges me to wake up, camera zooms in on my face and I say “what are you smirking about?” And then the reaction of me hitting him in the chest and squealing and dancing around screaming that someone is in our apartment…. As the camera pans to the lifeless mannequin perfectly posed with an outdoor spotlight shinning on her catty wumpus wig!
It’s a good thing to have a memory and be able to articulate and write the stories down. We might not become a YouTube sensation, but the twinkle in my eye is the light to the camera in my mind as I remember what a sweet and kind man that is in my life, giving me the wonderful gift of his laughter and love!!
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