Romance?????

Last night I watched an episode of the COSBY SHOW.
All the married men in the family made a bet about who was the most romantic. They all had dinner together with their wives, had it catered by a man who owed Cliff a favor. They all dressed in a tux and they had a spending limit of 25 dollars to spend if they spent any money.

The argument was that Cliff relied on his wealth to impress Claire, and the younger men thought he couldn't do as good a job romancing her without that wealth. They thought they could do better with a smaller- MUCH smaller budget.

Elvin was first to present Sondra with his romantic gift. She had always wanted a pearl necklace- and since they couldn't afford a string of pearls- he got a single pearl on a chain and presented it to her- telling her he was going to have one added each year on their anniversary to celebrate their love and life together.
Awwwwwwww- how sweet!

Martin presented Denise with a handkerchief that he had wiped the lipstick from their first kiss off his face with. He also had saved the flower from her hair from their wedding in Kenya, neither which she knew he had saved. He also gave her a small time capsule that had been engraved with the date of the dinner to put the things in- and told her when they bought their house they were going to bury it in the back yard and then dig it up in 50 years on that date. February 22, 2040, I believe it was.
Again.....AWWWWWWWW...How sweet.


Cliff got his box out and sat it beside Claire and began with a story about how a young man and woman were walking home from a Saturday night date long, long ago, and the girl had admired a small wooden hair barrette with a small rhinestone in the center in a shop window and how the young man was so poor he couldn't afford to buy it for his sweetheart. But now that man could- and after many, many calls to antiques shops he had located one of the exact barrettes and he thought that wonderful girl deserved to have that small bauble from so long ago.
Claire eyed him and smiling she asked if he actually remembered that and if that was what was in the box- and Cliff bashfully smiled yes it was.
Claire's eyes narrowed and she said "Let the record show(always a bad sign with a lawyer) that it was not I that wanted that wooden barrette, it was one Eunice Chantilly that wanted that thing...I said I thought it was TACKY. I wanted the green bracelet beside it!!!" And with that she opened up the top of the box and drew out the GREEN BRACLET!
Awwww- how sweet!!!


All three men thought they had done the superior job of romancing their wife- and they were all correct in thinking so.
They were all quite within their rights to think of themselves of "Emperor of Romance" as they has agreed the winner would be crowned.

Some women liked to be wined and dined and given expensive gifts....once in a while that stuff is great- but the most romantic things come from the heart and cost very little- or sometimes nothing at all.

My Paulius, for instance....I had a first edition copy of the book "The Harvester" and have read it so many times it was falling apart- literally. It's a very old fashioned story about a man who lives in solitude and loves it. Long story short- he works and works to build a home for his love- whom he hasn't even met yet- but he HAS dreamed about her. Then when he is ready for her- he sets out and sees her in the city and after a long search- finds her. Anyway, It's one of my favorite stories and Paulius had another copy printed for me and presented it to me as my wedding gift from him.
Awwwwwww.....so VERY, VERY sweet!!!!!!!

Nothing could have been more romantic and it would be one of the only things I would try and rescue if there was a fire and I could only grab a couple of things to save.

THAT's Romance. It's the little things that count to us NORMAL women.

If Pauli gives me a back rub or a foot massage, I'm in heaven. If he brings me a rose, a lily, and a tulip(our wedding flowers) to me it's just the most romantic thing in the world.
Romance, to me, is cuddling on the couch while we watch a movie or listen to music, or just talk. It's making me one of his special recipes for dinner, or making me a cup of coffee, or holding my hand when there's a thunderstorm. It's lying down with me until I fall asleep- even tho he's not sleepy at all, or grabbing a blanket for me if he sees I'm a bit chilly. It's grabbing a pizza and a couple of cold bottles of Pepsi and taking me to the park for a picnic- just like our first date. Or braving the cold to start my car in the winter so it will be toasty warm when I go out to drive to work every night. It's coming up behind me when I'm washing dishes and hugging me and kissing the back of my neck.
It's remembering to put my uniforms in the dryer when I forget to. It's occasionally getting up in the middle of the night and helping me smooth out the wrinkles in the sheet because they bruise me. (Yes, I am a Princess).

There are a thousand and one ways he romances me and I see at least a half dozen of them every day.
That's Love and Romance- and I wouldn't want it any other way. We may have loads of money for him to spend on me someday-but even then- unless it's a hallmark anniversary- or some other special occasion- I don't want the pearls and diamonds and dozens and dozens of roses. I'll take the rose, lily and tulip, and the kisses and cuddles and picnics in the park over the expensive stuff any day of the week.