Saturday, February 13, 2010

The Most Romantic Valentine Gift I've Ever Received

February 14, 2009, my husband decides to take his girls for a much needed shopping trip and date in the city. Now, Karl isn't too great with piddly little details like dates and such, so I'm not sure if this was purposefully for Valentine's Day, or merely a day on which it happened to work for him. In any case, it was much appreciated, especially by Heidi and myself. Hannah was still at the age where getting her food and sleep were about all that was needed to assure her contentment.
I've previously considered posting about the amazing gift he got me that day, but have hesitated, knowing that not all would share my sentiments as to the romantic nature of this gift. What exactly is romance anyway? In my book it's loving someone enough to get to know them, to pay attention to their needs and desires, and where possible meet those needs, even if it means sacrificing something for yourself.
Karl claims this wasn't really meant to be a Valentine gift, he just happened to decide to pick it up when we were in the city that day. I say give credit where credit is due and he made my day. No, year, as I'm still thrilled about it a year later. Yes, a year later I say he probably better not get me anything this year as it would be nearly impossible to top last year. Even had he gotten me a $10,000 diamond necklace I wouldn't have felt more happy and loved. More shocked maybe, but not more happy or loved. Big jewelery isn't really my thing.
What did he get me you ask? Maybe I'd better give you a little background: When we built our house money was even more scarce than it is today. We saved on everything possible. Karl just happened to have an old toilet in the barn. That's what we installed in our bathroom. It worked... for awhile. Then it didn't flush so well. Soon, it rarely flushed at all. I tried hard to not complain. I mean, I did have running water, I wasn't being forced to use an outhouse in -40 weather. Things could be much worse. I didn't however particularly care to be scrubbing a toilet at three in the morning because that was the only time it would flush and I happened to be up to nurse Hannah. Nor did I enjoy explaining to guests that it really wasn't them, the toilet simply didn't flush. Occasionally, therefore, I did put in a polite request that Karl try to fix the toilet.
Little did I know how he would grant my request. It was beyond what I even could have imagined when we walked into the building supply store a year ago and he told me to help him pick out a toilet. Not only did he buy me a toilet, he installed it right away, despite my protests that it was late and we had endured a long day in the city.

Yes, the most romantic gift I have ever received for Valentine's Day was a toilet from my man. He saw my need and he met it.

How about YOU, what's the most romantic gift you've ever received?

3 comments:

  1. I totally understand!! I love it! One of the most special gifts I have received was a food processor. What makes it an interesting story is that I had just had a ruptured tubal pg and was groggy in my bed the day of my birthday. He quietly brought in a big gift and I unwrapped it there in the bed. I loved it. I GET IT! :)

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  2. It wasn't a Valentine's gift, but my husband bought me an early Christmas present that, to me, was beyond romantic...a Cuisinart ice cream maker. I was pregnant with our second and craving chocolate ice cream like mad, but wasn't buying it because finances were tight and ice cream was about $5 a quart (yikes!). It may sound silly, but I burst into tears when he gave it to me (pregnant, ya think?). That thing paid for itself ages ago and every time I pull it out to make ice cream I remember how thankful I am to have my sweetie pie of a husband. :-)

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  3. Marcia and Momma Bear,
    Isn't it wonderful when our men KNOW us?! I love it when Karl takes the time to figure out what would make ME feel special, even if it isn't your typical romantic gift.

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