Dear Will and Owen,
Well, we did it! And I think we had fun doing it. We made the ladies happy on Valentine’s Day, and whenever that happens, it’s a good thing!
When I told Gram that I would pick you up after my Friday afternoon tennis game to come spend the night with us so your mom and dad could go out for a Valentine’s date, she said that would work out fine. When I told her I was going to give you each $10.00 and take you to the big Kroger on the way home to buy something for your mom for Valentine’s, she began to do that thing Moms do and tell me to keep you both together so you wouldn’t cause some usual form of chaos and disturbance or get lost. I told her “It’s okay, I’ve got this.” (And I did just exactly what she said when we got there, didn’t I?)
Anyway, when we entered the Kroger, we immediately saw the cards and some Valentine’s stuff to the right and went for it. While Owen tried to blow out the electric candles on one of the fancy cards, you, Will, found a bag of your mom’s favorite candy eggs to put in the basket. In just a minute you also found a cellophane-wrapped bunch of pastel colored artificial flowers – daisies, I think. As you brought them over, you told me “I’m not any good with flowers.” I think I told you something like “That’s okay, your Mom will like whatever you get her. You’ve got $3.50 left.”
Then we headed over to the big double Valentine’s candy aisle in the middle of the store that had more candy and flowers. You found a rounder of artificial roses there and decided to return the pastel daisies to their prior bucket (good choice, Buddy!). You selected a pink leopard-print artificial rose from the new bunch, and Owen picked out a plain red one – single stems but a permanent reminder of your love for your wonderful mom. You also decided to return the candy eggs, maybe with the intent of finding something more holiday-appropriate among all the deep red shelves (that had obviously been ravaged by other guys doing earlier what we were doing then).
But it wasn’t over. I pointed down the way to the great floral section of the store, and we headed off to spend some more (since I had told you that you could not keep any of the money that you didn’t spend on Mom). We were promptly surrounded by flowers and potted plants of all colors and varieties – enough to confuse and frustrate any guy shopping for Valentine’s on the evening before. We spent some “quality guy time” comparing the relative good and bad points of each plant we saw, trying to make the exact right choice. Will, ever the totally honest one, you reminded me that you are not good with flowers, but then you picked up a small begonia-looking plant with pinkish-lavender flowers in a pinkish-lavender pot. You held it up and said “This is one of my mother’s favorite colors, this light magenta-like color.” Owen, ever the decisive one, grabbed a pot of lavenderish small daisies in an identical pot and said “She will LOVE this!” (Did I detect a bit of competition there?) The plants were $9.95 each, so out we checked and home we headed, mission accomplished. And your mom did love both your gifts, didn’t she? I think she may have enjoyed the story of the adventure on her behalf even more.
It’s a good thing that you have a mom to practice that Valentine’s thing for, because it gets tougher when you get a girlfriend. But just remember to let her know – she was worth the effort. And you’re not perfect yet – it’s a process!
Love,
Pop-pop