Six years into our marriage, we had stopped worrying about gifts on holidays.

If there was something big that one of us wanted around Christmas or our birthdays, we would call it a gift, but realistically we would’ve gotten it anyway. The days of receiving wrapped presents as surprises were long behind us.

You can imagine my surprise when that year, the week before my birthday, a large black gift bag with silver gift paper appeared on the kitchen counter. I pretended I didn’t notice it at first, but when a day had passed, I gave in and asked my wife about it.

“It’s a birthday present,” she said casually.

“Can I open it?”

“Not until your birthday.”

She smirked at me but didn’t say more. I was intrigued, and as the... Read More