Earlier this week, I shared the material gifts my wife and children gave me for my birthday. In the post, I mentioned that Sidney is the best gift-giver who always manages to find me the perfect presents.

However, in that blog entry I purposely neglected to mention the most meaningful 40th birthday gift she gave me of all.

Despite the awesome material gifts Sidney gave me for my birthday, nothing beat the sentimental book she made for me.

During the joint birthday party I had with my brother this past Sunday night, Sidney slipped one final gift bag under my nose. I pulled out the tissue wrap and grabbed a spiral-bound booklet.

Titled “The Big 4-0 Rundown” it was a compilation of messages and stories from family, friends, and co-workers.

A look at the cover of the book that Sid made for me.

But, actually, it was a little more than that. Playing on my hobby of blogging, my wife opened the book by writing a blog post herself. She styled it in the form of a Thursday Rundown and used five topics to summarize the messages and stories told by those who submitted content for the book. The effort and love she put forth to write that blog post was truly special.

Part 1 of the book was a blog post my wife wrote in the style of a Thursday Rundown.

After her blog post and photos, the verbatim notes from those important to me followed. Stories, memories, birthday messages, and even a poem filled the pages. Some of the entries were funny, some were emotional…they all were very much-appreciated.

The second part of the book contained the messages in their entirety from those special to me.

On the way home that night, Sidney did something she usually never does: she drove the 35 minutes back to the house. She did this so I could read the contents of the book, asking me to do so aloud. I don’t think anyone had a dry eye in the vehicle.

The back of the book contained a section of the contributors and a final birthday message.

Sidney knew I didn’t want a surprise party or anything over-the-top but she still wanted to mark my milestone birthday in a unique and significant way. I don’t think she could have done anything more meaningful. I love you, Sid! Don’t Blink.