Wait For It . . . Wait For It . . .

Wait for It . . . Wait for It . . .

I always thank my God for you.

1 Corinthians 1:4

You may find this hard to believe, but I bought Leslie a birthday gift and waited twenty years to give it to her. I bought it just before we got married. Small enough to fit in one hand, the gift was wrapped in two sheets of simple notebook paper and taped securely at both ends. On the top, I had printed in red ink, “This gift is not to be opened by Leslie until I say so.”

Shortly after we were married, we moved from Chicago to Los Angeles, and Leslie came across the gift. “What’s in this box?” she asked.

“That’s a secret,” I said slyly as I took it from her hands.

“Aren’t you going to give me a hint?” she asked playfully.

“You’ll find out soon enough,” I said, tucking it into a drawer under some sweaters.

I’ll be honest; I didn’t have a time frame in mind. I had thought the gift might be something I’d give during that first married year. But it slipped my mind—until February 18, 2007. That’s when I threw a birthday bash for Leslie’s fortieth!

With a couple dozen friends filling our kitchen and family room that evening at the party, Leslie spied the familiar package among her other presents and went straight for it. “Hey, everybody!” she exclaimed. “I’ve been waiting half my life—literally—to open this little box.” The anticipation in the room was palpable. She carefully slid the box from the wrapping to reveal a cheap keychain with a tiny Precious Moments figurine dangling on one end.

Leslie started laughing so hard she couldn’t speak as she held it over her head to show the eager group. The others were mildly amused, but mostly they were confused. He kept a keychain in a box for twenty years and gave it to her on her fortieth birthday?

It didn’t really matter what our friends thought. I couldn’t contain my own laughter as I watched Leslie reveling in the absurdity of the moment.

“I thought it might be something really meaningful,” she laughed, “like a letter you wrote to me twenty years ago or something. But it’s a keychain—a Precious Moments keychain!”

“The cashier told me it might be worth something someday,” I said with a straight face.

Leslie burst into laughter again.

“The real gift is finally getting to uncover the secret.” Leslie told me later. “I’m going to keep this keychain in the box on my desk to remind me of this feeling.”

It’s been said that pleasures are greatest in anticipation. Now, we wouldn’t recommend building up anticipation for a cheap gift that’s overhyped. But we do recommend having something to look forward to as a couple. What are you anticipating together?

Marriage is the alliance of two people, one of whom never remembers birthdays and the other never forgets.

—Ogden Nash