Gift Giving Guy

Willow or pottery? Those are the traditional gifts for the ninth anniversary. The only thing that’s made from willow that I could think of is a cricket bat. And I already gave pottery among my gifts last year. (Pottery is also a traditional eighth anniversary gift.) So what to do for gift giving?

Maybe I needed to break from tradition this year — that is, forgo using the traditional wedding gifts as an inspiration. I sought out nine gifts, some small, and gave them across the nine days leading up to our anniversary.

I started brainstorming ideas and searching web sites for nine gifts. To my surprise, I found both willow and pottery among my nine anniversary presents.

• Day One — Godiva Dark Chocolate with Raspberry Bars
• Day Two — The Last Song, by one of her favorite authors, Nicholas Sparks, from Amazon.com
• Day Three — Cooking with All Things Trader Joe’s, from Amazon.com
• Day Four — A peanut butter and jelly spreader from UncommonGoods.com
• Day Five — Platter In A Bottle from UncommonGoods.com
• Day Six — A Pampered Chef baking stone (very practical pottery)
• Day Seven — Woodstock percussion wind chimes from Amazon.com
• Day Eight — A painting of a willow tree (shown above) by the very helpful primitive pear on Etsy.com
• Day Nine — A dozen fall-themed roses sent to her work

At first, I didn’t say anything about these being anniversary gifts. I just left them out for her to discover on the table, the kitchen counter, the coffee table. For a while, the peanut butter and jelly spreader was her favorite. She mock-chastised me for not inventing it myself. (“We could have made millions,” she said.)

But it was the willow painting that stunned her. She admired the dark willow, set against soft, water-colored splashes of brown. This gift was a perfect addition to our home.