A Quirky and Romantic Tradition

NOTE: After a holiday break, Brent’s fiance, Sidney, takes over Don’t Blink for a Sunday. Enjoy today’s post where Sidney reveals a special tradition that Brent has started.

Happy New Year! It is my pleasure to be back writing for www.brentreser.com again in 2016. Some of you (let’s be honest – probably none of you) may have noticed that I took a brief hiatus from my monthly blog-spots during the month of December. Though you may not have noticed my absence, I certainly hope that all of you were able to keep up with me (and Brent) as we celebrated the winter season. In lieu of writing, I was soaking in time with my “other family” on the west coast and basking in all the GLORIOUSNESS that is SNOW! (A true southern-bumpkin, I couldn’t help but love spending two whole weeks in the powdery stuff.) Last Christmas Day, Brent and I weren’t even in the same time zone, much less within arm’s reach of one another. So to say that the past holiday season was memorable would be a vast understatement.

I had a wonderful time with Brent in Spokane.

I had a wonderful time with Brent in Spokane.

Could I go on for pages and pages recounting all the fantastic things I did over the Christmas holiday? You bet-your-bottom-dollar I could. But thanks to Brent’s vigilant writing and updating about our winter ventures, most of the good material has already been written. But lucky for all you Don’t Blink readers there is one little “Christmas tradition” that has not been addressed. The very last little nugget of Christmas cheer that Brent has yet to write about is his affinity for Christmas cards.

Yes, that’s right, Christmas Cards. Well, wait…let me be clear….Brent has an affinity for greeting cards in general. But he takes Christmas Cards to a WHOLE NEW LEVEL. As you all probably know, Brent likes to be a little “over-the-top” sometimes. Don’t be fooled, Christmas is no different. His most over the top gesture to date is sending Christmas cards. I know he probably sends a card to many people during the season of cheer, but Brent sends a Christmas card to me EVERYDAY during this special time.

When you send a card on a daily basis, they start to add up.

When you send a card on a daily basis, they start to add up.

Need some clarification?? Here you go!: during the month of December, Brent sends me a Christmas card…in the mail….EVERYDAY. So this means that each date in December…when I check my mail…I can guarantee there will be a red/green/gold colored envelope shoved inside and addressed to me.

He started doing this for me during the Christmas season of 2014. This year he continued with the tradition. I have to admit, at first I thought he was being a little ridiculous, but as the time went on, I found myself looking forward to checking the mail every afternoon. There were some days when the mail would get a little wonky, and I might get two cards in one day, and the next day get none. But all in all, every card sent is dated and proves that there is one for each day leading up to Christmas.

The cards hold special meaning to me.

The cards hold special meaning to me.

Some of you are wondering, what had he written in these 50 some-odd cards? Well, the answer varies.

Some of the cards were filled with line upon line of sweet nothings. You know, a bunch of mushy-gushy stuff that no one would appreciate but me.

On other occasions, he would send an additional card in the mail that accompanied that romantic one. This alternate card had lines upon lines of the same friggin word. (My theory is that these cards were Brent’s attempt to extract a dramatic eye-roll from me…he succeeded).

There is nothing better to me than opening up the mailbox and seeing a card addressed to me.

There is nothing better to me than opening up the mailbox and seeing a card addressed to me.

Then there were a few cards that just give a brief rundown of what the two of us did that day and what he enjoyed most.

Brent would also put inside the cards one of his (obnoxious) Don’t Blink business cards. On the back he would scrawl some type of question for me. At his request, I would have to text the answer of the question to him. Most of the questions he asked on the back of his card were centered on the theme of Christmas…such as: What is your favorite Christmas movie? What was your favorite gift from Santa?

Then, of course, Brent would send an off the wall question too. My favorite odd ball question from this year: What is your favorite flavor of Gatorade? (Like seriously….WHAT?…..so random!)

Throughout the entirety of our relationship, Brent has sent me dozens and dozens of greeting cards…137 cards to be exact. My two sisters joke that Brent single-handedly keeps Hallmark in business. Is it a little quirky to get a card in the mail from the man I see each day?? Yeah. Are some of the cards a little silly and pointless…well duh. It wouldn’t be in true Brent-fashion if they weren’t. But it’s also thoughtful because I know there was a great deal of effort put into sending me these cards.

It takes a box to put these 137 cards in.

It takes a box to put these 137 cards in.

These cards are a trove a treasures. Nothing cheers me up on a bad day more than re-reading some of the cards he has sent me. It’s also fun to read the cards and follow the evolution of our relationship. There are some cards from the beginning, where he calls me a “great friend”, and cards from a couple weeks ago where he tells me he can’t wait to call me his wife.

Although I give Brent a hard time about his quirks, this is the one that I love the most. I hope that he never stops sending me cards so that I can have a lifetime of memories set out on cardstock. I can’t wait to see how 2016’s Christmas card tradition will play out, seeing as though we’ll be living under the same roof. Knowing Brent, I am sure he will come up with something. Stay tuned to find out what he does. Oh, and don’t let me forget….until then…..Don’t Blink

2 thoughts on “A Quirky and Romantic Tradition

  1. It hasn’t been all that long ago tha Sharon and I had a card party…….read through them all again and then burned them………we didn’t burn the memories!

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