My standard fall/winter outfit includes a basic cardigan with a cute scarf. The other day I tossed pink scarf on my bed and scrambled to find the pair of jeans and cardigan I wanted to wear so I could get dressed and out the door. Somehow in the process the pink scarf disappeared. I seriously think I have a special knack for misplacing things.
I am also skilled at running late. So, with my pink scarf nowhere in sight I grabbed the first scarf I could find on the shelf and headed out.
As I drove to my appointment in Kansas City I looked at the vibrant, multi-colored scarf around my neck and smiled. My friend Tamra got me the scarf in Turkey, where she worked as a teacher for a couple of years. Every time I wear the scarf I think of Tamra, which makes me smile.
Gifts have a magical way of connecting the recipient with the giver. I love the sentimentality of gifts. Whenever I where a piece of jewelry or accessory I got as a gift in some mystical way if feels as though the person who gave me the gift is with me.
I’m firm believer that gifts should be given with thought and without obligation. Yet, even as I write this I realize that I’ve been a hypocrite when it comes to this standard. I’ve given gifts out of obligation countless times and it has recently came to my attention that I have rather high standards on the gifts I expect my husband to give to me.
Logan’s always been a good gift giver. But after a 65-hour work week Logan realized Friday that he still hadn’t gotten me a birthday gift. So, he ran to the most reasonable place to get a gift for your wife, Orscheln Farm and Home.
Logan came back from Orscheln’s and surprised me with a wind chime. I don’t know if it was the unexpectedness of the wind chime (I had hinted that I wanted a camera) or the fact it was a last minute gift, but when I looked at the bird-shaped chime my feelings felt slightly hurt. (Translation I turned into one of those 12-year-old spoiled brats outside of Hollister’s whining because they didn’t get the $70 jeans that they wanted)
A wind chime? Really? Logan usually gets me a unique piece of fair-trade jewelry that he spends hours, or at least tens of minutes, picking out. This hastily purchased wind chime left a sour taste in my mouth. We’ve only been married sixth months. Are we already one of those couples who forgets to get each other birthday gifts?
When Logan and I got married we swore we would never become one of those boring couples. We would be fun. If we had children we would not lose the ability to have adult conversations. We would not become our parents.
And I had hoped that we would not lose the spark and passion in our relationship. I didn’t want to lose the magic.
In my six months of marriage I’ve learned that everyday can’t be magical, but what sustains the relationship is remembering the moments that are.
I’ll never forget the first gift Logan gave me. It was a couple weeks into our relationship. On our second date we went on a picnic and I mentioned that I didn’t have corn cob holders. It was an item I never remembered to get for myself at the store but I always wished I had when I cooked corn on the cob.
A few days later I went to Logan’s house and he presented me with two packages of corn cob holders.
“I saw these at the store and thought of you,” he said with a smile.
I still have those corn cob holders. They still make me smile.
And now when I see my newest wind chime, I’ll remember the year when Logan worked a crazy busy week at the pharmacy and still managed to come home with gift for me from Orshlen Farm and Home. When I hear that strange looking bird chime, I’ll remember how much my husband loves me.
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