Ever since Noah moved out – well, in the past few years, to be honest! -I started to regret it. I’m not just talking about big decisions, but regretting the little things. I wish I had said “yes” more; that I had delayed buying cell phones for my kids; that I had taught them more about independent living; and that some people celebrated the holidays with enthusiasm.
I ask this question because tomorrow is Valentine’s Day. I’ve always been in the “it’s just a Hallmark holiday” group and I don’t know if Jerry and I ever celebrated it. We probably did this in our early dating years – Jerry loved the holidays, especially when it involved super corny romance. I really wish I had indulged him all these years. When it was my birthday a few weeks ago, he said he wanted me to celebrate mine. This makes me feel bad!
It got me thinking that celebrating this isn’t necessarily about myself; If he really wants to do something because it makes him feel good, then I’m certainly okay with that. Because I felt so bad, I told him we could celebrate Valentine’s Day however we wanted – no matter how cheesy it was, and I said he could make plans and I’d cheer him up.
To be honest, I’m kind of excited about it! I even put a lot of thought into preparing a few gifts for him. Jerry won’t see this post until I give him the gift, so I’ll share it here. The only clue I gave him was, “I guarantee you, no one else in the world has any of these things…and no one else in the world would want them.” Hahahaha, that’s it real!
There is a story behind every gift…
One day (probably 15-20 years ago) we were stopped at an intersection waiting for the traffic light to turn green. There was a telephone pole in front of us (does anyone still call it a telephone pole? Or is it just me?) with a sign that said “Fireworks” and an arrow underneath that gave the direction to where you could buy fireworks.
The logo is upside down, I’m not sure if this is intentional or unintentional. But I pointed at it and said, “What do you think fireworks look like?” Then Jerry looked at it, opened his mouth and said what should have been obvious, and then realized what I meant – someone might have turned the sign upside down on purpose Come over so the arrow points in the opposite direction (instead of remaking the logo)).
We both stared at each other and laughed. We couldn’t help but laugh! I don’t remember where we were going, but we laughed our socks off for the rest of the drive. The sign is long gone, but occasionally at that intersection we would ask each other “Which direction do you think the fireworks are going?” and we laughed about it.
Sooo, that’s what prompted this gift. I took a photo of the intersection, then grabbed a piece of cardboard and a marker and recreated the “Fireworks” sign. I took a photo of the sign and then composited the sign into the image to see what it looked like the day we first saw it. I printed it out in a 5×7 size (I was actually embarrassed to go to Walgreens to pick it up!) and put it into the frame. So, this is the first gift.
The backstory of the second gift. The issue isn’t that specific, but it’s an ongoing thing between us. When we were dating, one time we were cuddling on the couch and Jerry said, “We fit together like Legos.” I said, “But there are millions of Legos that fit together. We’re like some The LEGO bricks were melted down a bit, so they no longer fit into any other LEGO bricks – they only fit into each other.” (Okay, I guess maybe I was a bit old-fashioned then!)
Now, occasionally when we hug, one of us will mention that we fit together like melted Legos. That’s why I came up with the second gift. I actually put a lot of thought into which LEGO bricks to use—colors and shapes—because I wanted to put them on necklaces, bracelets, and even keychains. I ended up choosing to make a cannabis necklace (like the ones that were popular when we were dating) and add Legos as accessories. I chose round ones – one black, one white – and then I put them together and used a lighter to melt the sides. I hope they can still pull apart and push back together – but only with each other. It actually works really well!
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| I can still take them apart, but they won’t fit into any other LEGO bricks. |
I absolutely “love” giving gifts, but there’s no denying that I’m not good at making them look pretty in their packaging. At Christmas I package things in leftover boxes from Amazon boxes or whatever. This is actually a joke between us! I even watched some YouTube videos over Christmas trying to learn how to wrap better (I found I just didn’t have the patience). After watching the video, Jerry and I competed several times to see who could bag better. I still lost. Ha ha!
Anyway, I decided to go over the top with the necklace locket. I actually bought this little box to use instead of reusing boxes from other things! However, the necklace itself looked too plain in the box, so I looked around the craft room for something to put underneath the necklace. I thought maybe it was a piece of fabric. When I saw this white satin one (I had a dress cut from this fabric a while ago with a white satin petticoat underneath) I had this idea that it was total tacky romance.
At first, I just wanted to make a small pillow to hold the necklace. And then I just kept adding to it. I used red and pink thread on the edges. Then I added a “b” in the middle. I started calling Jerry “b” (lowercase) because he always accidentally pressed “b” before sending a text message: “I have a meeting b after get off work.” I know this because I quickly double-clicked the space bar (to form a period) and accidentally pressed the letter b in the process. So instead of a period, it appears as a space followed by a b. How do I know this? Because I’ve done it a million times too.
So I started replying something like, “Okay b, see you later.” Jerry had always called me Boo, so calling him “b” actually sounded appropriate! That’s why I added a lowercase b to the satin. Then I thought I might as well add some hearts. (I made this freehand with a sewing machine, and I have to say, I’m kind of impressed that you can even tell what it’s supposed to be. It’s not easy, but I’m too lazy to do it by hand!)
I went ahead and decorated the box itself with some markers and stencils. (If you’re a fan of Friends, do you remember the episode when Joey wrote to Chandler and Monica’s adoption agency and used a thesaurus for every word? He didn’t write “big heart.” But “full-size aortic pump”.)
Then I put our photos in it.
I “really” tried to wrap it up neatly, and I used a few tricks I learned in the video – I think it actually made Jerry laugh when he realized I did it – and I still kept it It messed up when I used spray glue for the labels I made. (That’s why it looks jagged.)
Regardless, I’m really excited about these gifts! I thought they would make Jerry laugh. He’ll be so grateful for all the hard work I put into this “iconic holiday” 😉