Briefcase on the Kitchen Table

So Avery and I celebrated our two year wedding anniversary this past week. We happened to be on vacation at the same time and had a wonderful day swimming, hiking, and went out for a truly fabulous meal. We also like to exchange gifts for our anniversary. Now, anniversary gifts can come with a lot of pressure. Unlike just-for-fun gifts that we exchange for birthdays and Christmas, Avery and I both try to make anniversary gifts a bit more sentimental, even at the risk of being a bit cheesy.

This year I was wracking my brain as to what to get. I liked the idea of tying in the traditional cotton gift for our second year but didn’t like obvious suggestions (sheets, robes, etc). Also, I wanted something I could personalize a bit more, put an “us” touch on. After lots of thinking and Internet searching, I stumbled across a blanket that had a picture of a world map and an idea struck me. I ordered the blanket and hit the craft store. A few days later the blanket arrived and I began sewing on small buttons placing one anywhere Avery or I had ever been. We have both used whatever resources possible over the past ten years to travel as much as we could afford, either individually or together, and we have amassed a decent list of locations. We have also talked about continuing to travel as much as possible, especially once Ave is done with his PhD. Also Avery is a TOTAL blanket monger; he loves blankets and being warm. This seemed like a great fit and I was getting pretty stoked about the gift. I finished sewing the 40+ buttons, wrapped it up, and waited for the day to arrive.

The morning of our anniversary Ave and I slept in, got breakfast, and then decided to exchange gifts. Avery opened his first. He tore back the silvery paper, opened the white box, and picked up the soft, warm mass of the blanket. He held on to the edge of the blanket and let it unfurl to the floor. He had a sort of half-smile-half-shocked look that I wasn’t expecting. I couldn’t tell if he liked it to be honest. He quietly handed me my card and gift. I read through the card still trying to understand Ave’s reaction to the blanket. Then I pulled my gift from the paper; in front of me was a beautiful watercolor world map with pins for every place Avery or I had ever gone. I would bet a great deal of money that my face had an identical half-smile-half-shocked look to Avery’s only a few minutes before. I looked at Avery and his blue eyes sparkled a bit as he tried to stifle his laughter.

Somehow, someway we had gotten each other essentially the same gift.

I wish I could explain this but I cannot. Avery and I have never discussed owning a map like this, have never been to a person’s house together who had such a map, and we weren’t around each other AT ALL this summer while planning the gifts (because I was in Indiana, he was in Missouri).

At first I didn’t know what to think. Did this mean the gift was unoriginal? A poor choice? Copy cat-esque? Should one of us somehow take one of the gifts back? Nope. It doesn’t mean any of that. At its worst, this is a total fluke. At its best, this means we “get it”; we get each other, we share dreams of travel, and we understand the sentiment each of us would attach to such a map.

It has been a great second year of marriage and I am sure the third will be even more awesome. Hopefully part of this next year and the years to come will be spent finding the too-blank spaces on the blanket and the painting and trying to figure out someway to scrimp, save, dream, wish, and work to get a button or pin to that spot.