Friday, February 12, 2010

Groundhog's Day and other romantic holidays


I’ve known for awhile that I was scheduled to blog right before Valentine’s Day. Which I was not going to write about because… well, how cliché can we get, right? Romance writers talking about Valentine’s Day? Ugh. How un-original.

Then my Wonderful Husband, who is the least romantic guy in the world, (seriously—want to hold a contest?) sent me flowers.

Roses.
For Groundhog’s Day.
Yes, that’s right.
Last year I got a dozen on President’s Day.
Year before that on the birthday of some guy he knew in high school. Who I’ve never met.

Now let’s be really clear here. WH has never given me a gift on V-day. Ever.

We knew each other for 6 years before we dated, then dated for 7 months, were engaged for a year and a half and have now been married for fifteen years. And I repeat: WH has never given me a V-day present.
I have however, gotten flowers annually on random days for no apparent reason. He also came up with the idea and has been diligent about celebrating the anniversary of the day we started dating (November 12th if you’re wondering).

I also have a beautiful wind chime, necklaces, books, CDs, and several other things “just because”.

So, maybe I have to rethink crowning him least romantic man in the world.

Not that I got it right away. There was one particularly teary V-day toward the beginning where he finally had to spell out that he doesn’t need a calendar or an overly commercialized holiday, multiple TV and radio ads, or “hints” of any kind to remember that he loves me or to tell me. And he doesn’t want to do it on a day when everyone else does (or help line the pockets of Hallmark… oh, he’s got a whole conspiracy thing going).

He did, however, figure out to send random bouquets of flowers before Valentine’s Day.
I happen to think it’s very romantic. I have a couple of friends who have a little crush on WH because of this, too.

So, okay, let’s just do it—let’s talk about Valentine’s Day! What is the best, most memorable/touching/ amazing romantic gesture you've ever been the recipient of?
What the heck? Let’s go crazy!

5 comments:

Meg Benjamin said...

Awwwww! My DH, who's even less romantic than yours, still manages to come up with great Valentine's cards every year. And yesterday, when I was feeling low, he took me to Boulder for dinner. Bless him!

kelly said...

Well my husband has to rank right up there with the unromantic ones. He's a great husband and I love him but I will never expect romantic gestures on Valentine's day either. Stay tuned for if I even get a card. But Erin's right, Valentine's isn't the only day you should show your love so when he does the dishes and the laundry for me, I'll take that as a sign of his love and I'll be happy!

Jennifer Mathis said...

i think I'll win My hubby doesn't even know valentine's day is coming up and it's the 12th today. Oh well sighs can't be any worse than last years " what do you mean you don't want to cook. Why would we be going out " with a clearly puzzled look. He remembers no holidays *sigh*

-jennifer

Erin Nicholas said...

Maybe *we* should all win something for loving them anyway!! *G*

PG Forte said...

my husband is spontaneously romantic. Which is good because he can't remember dates to save himself. For example, I've given up expecting him to remember that Thanksgiving is always on Thursday--never mind a specific Thursday.

Valentine's Day? I doubt he'd even be able to guess the month correctly...without a lot of shameless prompting on my part. lol!

The upside is I get flowers, cards and gifts at random intervals for no other reason than that he's thinking of me.

And, seriously, how can a scheduled holiday compete with that?

The last present I received for a specific reason was a beautiful opal ring he gave me several days after my car was rear-ended.

I asked him what prompted the gesture--because with a newly totaled car that needed replacing, it's not like we needed to be spending money on jewelry--and he said it was because he was just so grateful because I could have been hurt and I wasn't.