The story of Sherry’s Valentine’s gift began a month earlier when I received an email titled “OMG I need this for my birthday” that included a link to a white ceramic rhino from Z Gallerie. Her birthday is in March (and I already had plans for that), so I assumed it would make the perfect Valentine’s present. Unfortunately, it was out of stock, and Z Gallerie couldn’t guarantee it would arrive by February 14.
Sherry had been searching for a ceramic rhino for at least a year after spotting a similar piece in a Nate Berkus room in his portfolio. She never imagined that a comparable, more affordable version would be made widely available by Z Gallerie. Knowing how much she loved white ceramic animals, I pre-ordered the rhino anyway and told my sister Emily it would be a birthday gift for March. I’m not very good at keeping secrets, though, and Sherry quickly guessed I’d ordered it. She became convinced the rhino was for Valentine’s Day, even gushing to Emily about the present I’d apparently planned. Emily found it funny, but I began to worry. The rhino did arrive the following week, delivered to my office, but Emily intended to give it to Sherry in March. To make matters worse, the actual Valentine’s gift I had for Sherry was more practical than romantic, so I feared she’d be disappointed.
On Saturday morning I held Sherry’s intended gift behind my back and told her a half-truth: “I ordered your rhino, but it didn’t come in time. You’ll get it for your birthday.” Then I handed her our digital camera that now contained a new Eye-Fi wireless SD memory card. It wasn’t the most romantic gesture, but it was useful — the card lets the camera upload photos automatically and wirelessly. Sherry loved it. She blogs a lot, and anything that streamlines photo uploading means more time for projects to write about. The camera’s new ability to send pictures from any room in the house felt almost sci-fi, and it distracted her from the missing rhino for the time being.
That evening we went to Emily’s house for a Valentine’s party as planned. Unbeknownst to Sherry, the horned ceramic mammal was already waiting. Emily and I agreed it would be cruel to wait another month to give the gift, so she decided to present Sherry’s birthday gift early — but not without a bit of playful misdirection first.
When we arrived, Emily pulled me aside and pointed to several framed photos around her living room. Each frame contained a staged picture of her kids and Emily with Sherry’s rhino. We hoped the usually observant Sherry would notice right away. To our surprise, it took her nearly an hour. She even stopped in front of a photo of our niece Olivia reading to the rhino and said “ahhh, cute” without spotting the actual ceramic animal nearby. Eventually we prompted her with, “Sherry, did you look closely at all the new pictures?” and she finally realized what was going on.
Needless to say, Sherry was thrilled. The little scavenger hunt ended with a happy reunion of girl and rhino. I was relieved I didn’t have to keep the secret any longer and that, with Emily’s help, I hadn’t disappointed my wife on Valentine’s Day. The rhino now sits contentedly in our living room, where it seems right at home.
All in all, it was a very happy Valentine’s Day, even if it required a bit of scheming. Do you have any memorable Valentine’s Day stories to share — gifts that were a huge hit or ones that didn’t go as planned? I’d love to hear them.
Images courtesy of Z Gallerie and Eye Fi.