Good spouses don’t really need a reason to be celebrated but their birthdays come around just once a year. When we make this day special for them, they know that they’re appreciated, a thing that usually gets lost in the chaos of life.
I’ve always seen the elders around me celebrate their spouses on their birthdays. The person at the receiving end felt seen & heard. It was, thus, natural that this rubbed off on me too. And, luckily, N turned out to be a similar person too.
There are always plenty of ways to celebrate but both of us like low-key affairs. A simple dinner with family does the trick for us. But, however we’ve celebrated, we’ve always let the other know it’s her/ his day. At times, starting days in advance.
2020 Birthday
In the initial years, we would actually go out of the way to celebrate the entire month as the birthday month. We would sprinkle gifts on the birthday boy/ girl on a daily/ alternate day basis.
The gift – giving has surely fizzled out but not the warmth & appreciation. We’ve always liked gifting each other a wide variety of gifts. Both of us are frugal; so, a lot of thought goes into each of our gifts, rather than just walking into a brand showroom & picking something off the shelf.
My gifts to N have ranged from lanterns to blog posts dedicated to him to bags with inbuilt speakers to printed pictures of him to flowers sent to his office to vases to boots to a Bose Soundlink Mini to recorded songs to a Cordies Executive to hotel stays to surprise lunch parties to decorative door hangings to music videos for him to planters to ‘love coupons’ to wall stickers to fitness bands to Dhola Maru pictures to ‘best husband’ certificates to candlelit dinners to soap dispenser sets to shirts to stationery sets to taking him shopping to tea light holders to gift hampers to socks (yes!) to cufflinks to blow-ups of his favourite photos to travel pouches to city tours to pens to ‘reasons I love you’ to terrariums to pop arts to drill machine sets to star maps to gift cards! Phew!!
2021 Birthday
That seems like a lot of home décor products. LOL! In my defence, N’s very fond of home décor. And this doesn’t seem to have too many apparels or accessories because he’s pretty choosy about his attire.
His gifts to me – too many for me to list down!
What I enjoy tremendously, though, is to tease him about aging, which is a fear for him. I’m sorry N but I can’t stop giggling at this! What he enjoys tremendously is to take pot-shots at my eccentricities on my birthdays. Like that one time where he awarded me the Grammar Nazi title! <eye roll>
2022 Birthday
Having said that, I’m pretty sure we’re each other’s number one fans. And we ensure we communicate this message to each other. If not through the year, then at least on birthdays!
