June 7 - “A fun surprise”

We started off our 50th year together (49th anniversary is the beginning of year 50, right?) with some very creative gifts to each other. The “recommended gift code” has some interesting things to say. First off, the mineral of the year is copper. Strange, but easy enough. The flower of the year is purple orchid. Again, strange, and for me … challenging. 

Chris gave me a new Hawaiian shirt (love it!). She also wrapped up something in copper-ish paper. Upon further investigation I found … a medicine vial full of pennies. There’s your nod to copper, for sure. 

But wait!  These weren’t just random one cent pieces. There were - count ‘em - 49 pennies in there. And in her colorful explanation, she detailed how some were bright and shiny and some were not so much. Metaphor for our marriage, to be sure. Some years we have gone through tough times (especially medically). But most years have been bright and shiny. Ain’t she sweet?

Since we think so much alike (Would that be kind of like beginning to look like your dog?), my gift to her also drew upon that whole copper idea. I had to do some serious searching, though. I wanted a penny from the year we got married and one from this year. Couldn’t find either. I did, however, manage 1974 - the year before we got married and 2023 - last year. Pretty close. Still 49 years. I taped them on the envelope of her card. And in the card I made note of how many years, months, days, hours, minutes, and seconds we have been married. That’s a lotta seconds!  

I also co-opted the flower idea. Now remember, that one was gonna be challenging. Purple is probably the hardest color for me to discern. And sure enough, when I got to the flower place (at 6:30. Chris wasn’t out of bed yet), everything looked blue and white to me. So I did what any red-blooded, color-sensing-challenged, married-49-years guy would do. I asked the nearest woman for help. She chuckled when she finally understood my dilemma, but immediately turned to the huge display of plants before us. “That one is purple. That one there is a very light purple. That one is more a violet. That one is a darker purple. That one back there is probably the truest purple, because it doesn’t have the shades of white in it.” (SHADES of WHITE? I thought white was white). I began to understand what was before me, though. I interrupted her and asked, “So you’re saying all of these are purple of one kind or another?”  That drew an affirmative nod and a repressed, chuckled, “Yes.”  Well that was all I needed. I thanked her profusely, chose one that looked like it was about to bust out in some more blooms, paid for it (of course), and rushed to get home before Chris got up. I left the flower on the front porch and settled into my chair 

Our gift exchange seemed to go well. I think she was happy with my efforts. Oh, in my effort to detail the flower story, I forgot to mention my other two gifts for her. A new book by one of her favorite authors, Christopher Paolini. His tales are generally about dragons and such. Pretty gripping stuff. And my favorite of all … I also gave her a package of socks. Yep. Socks. Just about every pair she has is full of holes. Now if I can just get her to throw those old ones in the garbage … 

One more thing - on our walk we were surprised to find another gift, this one from an unknowing generous stranger. Now we often find loose change on our walks - pennies that people drop and don’t want to retrieve. But not this day! I looked down, and there in the middle of the street were two quarters. Ready for this one? Fifty cents to commemorate the start of our fiftieth year. Pretty perfect!

Micah‬ ‭6‬:‭8‬ ‭ says, He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Father, thanks for the extra 50 cents. It was a fun surprise. Amen.