I can only take credit for a few of the ideas in this blog. Most of them, I got from other people. For Valentine’s Day, I searched through dozens of people’s blogs, read books, and talked to people to find ideas. What came out of all that was a combination of lots of other people’s ideas with my own interpretations.
After the Saturday evening massage. and after my wife was asleep, I snuck out of bed and set up some things for in the morning. I had a bunch of confetti that I had cut out of some red, pink, and white paper, and I scattered it throughout our loft. Then I put a piece of paper on the floor to look as though it had been slipped underneath the door.
At the top, in bold print, it said “Official Notice.” The paragraph under that was written in the language of a court paper. One of the few benefits of having gone through divorce and child custody fights was knowing how to make the paper seem legitimate. My goal was to make her think first of all, that it was from the landlord, and then that it was some kind of summons after she started to read.
What it actually was, was a declaration of my love for her. Each paragraph started with “whereas,” as though it had been prepared by an attorney, but instead of being legalities, it was things that her love meant to me and had done for me. I knew that when she got out of bed and went down the stairs in the morning, she would find it. She did, and it worked exactly the way I intended it to. It still sits up against her mirror where she gets ready every morning.
I took her to the “Beauty And The Beast” play that afternoon, which was wonderful. Then I bought all the ingredients to make a seafood dinner and we went back to the loft where I cooked for her. I served it to her in courses with a good white wine and it turned out to be more than we could eat. I also made a dessert called “Cupid’s Pie” that I found a recipe for out of a cheesecake crust, ice cream, cool whip, and cherries.
For a gift, I had a small metal box that said “You and Me” on the sides and also had hearts on it. It was actually supposed to come with the purchase of a watch at Macy’s, but I talked a lady at the jewelry counter out of one. In it, I put romantic coupons for the upcoming year. All of these things were simple, but meaningful. I didn’t have to spend a lot of money, but I didn’t go cheap either. I chose things that would make the day special, and sought to create some lasting memories, rather than just another dinner and bouquet of flowers.
I did have the bouquet of flowers delivered to her at work on Monday, the actual Valentine’s Day, but that was mostly because she likes the attention that it brings from the other women who work there. It was the best Valentine’s Day ever, but not because of an expensive piece of jewelry or an elaborately planned date. Those things wouldn’t have meant near as much as being known and loved by someone who took the time to make it special on her terms did.
The Restoration Tour 