Almost

He almost snuck it by me. Almost. He did a wonderful thing and almost kept a secret. He's terrible at keeping gifts a secret, so even trying was admirable. On Black Friday he bought a orange leather bag I had pined over. (I love orange, and it is this bag, but a brillant deep orange.) I very rarely buy things for myself that cost more than $30. I pretty much talk myself out of it every time no matter how much I want it.

He was in the store by himself, as our nieces and I were at Target. He had run into a neighbor of ours though and they were chatting in line when we arrived to pick him back up. What I never saw was Mike holding the bag behind a box in the cart. What I missed was Mike slipping the bag from behind the box to the cashier behind her counter. The cashier discreetly double bagged it and secured it in our cart nestled with other bags and boxes. John paid and loaded up our car, and the whole time I was oblivious. He even got it into the house. I had no idea.

Unfortunately, Jenny had passed me the receipts, which I folded up and stuck in my wallet. Later that day while we were at the mall, I was bored. I sat in one of those leather massage chairs outside an anchor store and opened my wallet to review the deals. Imagine my surprise and elation, when I saw this item appear on the receipt, and it was 40% off. Not only did he know I loved that bag, he knew I would love it more on sale. He's a good guy. Sometimes I almost think he's perfect. Almost.

So when Busy B gives me the bag on my birthday next week, I will shout gleefully and be thankful. John knows I saw the receipt, but I will hug and hold my family and thank them for such a thoughtful gift. It will be perfect. Almost. The gift I really wanted this year, and the one I might long for every year to come just isn't meant to be this year.