It was my birthday and my now-husband and I had been dating for about three months. When he got to my house, he wished me a happy birthday, then he apologized, “I’m sorry I didn’t get you a gift.”
At the time, I was 31, had a good job, and could buy whatever I fancied, within reason. I couldn’t come up with any material thing that I even wanted. “Don’t be sorry,” I told him, “It’s a good thing. No obligatory gift giving.” “No obligatory gift giving,” he echoed.
And the precedent was set.
We don’t wait for holidays to do nice things for each other
In the three months we had been dating, leading up to my birthday, my boyfriend had brought me…
