My Very Best Valentine’s Day

Summary

The author recounts her most memorable Valentine's Day in 1996, when her husband surprised her with a romantic setup in their home after she came back from working two jobs.

Abstract

In 1996, the author, who was working both at a bank and at Dillard's Department Store, experienced her most cherished Valentine's Day. Despite the physical strain of her dual employment, her husband, Mr. Pam, orchestrated a heartfelt and intimate celebration for her. Upon returning home, she followed a trail of flower petals leading to a candlelit bathroom with a prepared jacuzzi tub, wine, and chocolates. This thoughtful gesture, involving their daughter who spent the evening at a friend's house, made it an unforgettable Valentine's Day for the author.

Opinions

The author did not particularly enjoy her job at the bank's foreclosure department, feeling it cast her as the "bad guy."
She appreciated the employee discount at Dillard's, which was one of the reasons she took the part-time job there.
The author initially found working two jobs to be physically demanding, especially on her feet and legs.
The effort and thought behind her husband's Valentine's Day surprise were more meaningful to her than the gift itself.
The author reflects on this Valentine's Day as the best one in her 47 years of marriage.

It was the thought and effort more than the gift itself

(Sorry, I wish I had put this out yesterday, but other things got in the way).

Although I’ve enjoyed many wonderful romantic valentine days in my 47 years of marriage my favorite one happened back in 1996.'

At that time I was 46 and my husband (Mr. Pam) was 48. Our daughter was 16 and she worked a few part time hours after school in a kiosk at the mall to earn extra money and she loved her job.

At that time I was working full time at a bank in the foreclosure dept. I didn’t really like my job as it left me feeling like a bad guy most of the time. However, all my co-workers, some who had been doing foreclosures for years, had come to love the job. My opinion of them was they had become numb to what they were doing. Informing people they were putting their house in foreclosure and warning them of the consequences if they didn’t start making mortgage payments, was NOT my idea of a good job.

But for a bank job it paid well so my salary helped to pay the bills. I stayed at it for a year before I quit and moved onto a better job elsewhere. During this time a friend of mine had hired on at Dillard’s Dept. store as a part-time sales associate and she kept telling me how much she loved it. Then one day she called me saying they were hiring and they were offering part-time evening hours from 5:30–9pm Mon-Fri. and every full-time other weekend. She was enjoying a liberal discount too, which is why she took the job in the first place because she was a clothes horse and she knew I was one too. Soon after I applied and was hired on.

That began what became a year of holding down two jobs and I thank God I have had to do it since.

I worked at the bank during the week till 5pm and then went to Dillard’s afterwards till closing time. I packed my dinner every morning and woofed it down in my car parked in their parking lot before I had to clock in at Dillard’s at 5:30. A lot of part timers did this because most of us had full time jobs, too.

At first I found working a second job brutal. Even thought I sat all day on my day job, my feet and legs were killing me by the time I got off work every night and drove home. They hurt so much that I usually drove home in bare feet because I couldn’t stand another minute in my heels. Yes, we had to wear low heels and had to dress up, or at least dress up enough that we didn’t look like we were out running errands. This part was easy for me because the bank had a professional dress code too.

When Valentine’s Day rolled around that year all I wanted to do was get home on that particular Friday night, change my clothes and relax. I had left my husband and daughter a card that morning and I anticipated that we would open our cards when my daughter and I got home. Mr. Pam and I had casually talked about going out to dinner the next night to celebrate.

Walking from my car in our garage I could see there was a sign on the back door. It was red and said, “follow the flower petals I lay at your feet.” I smiled at it and opened the door where I immediately saw a row of red, white and pink flower petals. I followed them walking on my sore, hose covered feet all through the house to our bedroom, which I noticed was only lite by candlelight. The petals led me on into our master bathroom which was also lit by candlelight and smelled wonderful. I didn’t see Mr. Pam anywhere. It’s then that I went into our master bathroom where I heard soft music playing on a boombox and saw our jacuzzi tub was full of water and bubbles. There was a wine glass on the edge and a red box of chocolates next to it. ‘Oh my.’

I turned around and saw my husband standing in the doorway smiling at me. “Happy valentine’s day, babe.” I was speechless.

I’ll leave the rest of that evening to your imagination. But our daughter was in on it so she went straight to a friends house after work that night and came home much later.

Best Valentines. Day. Ever!

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