The Chivalrous Guy

Is it me or has date night gone commercial? With the trappings of daily life work, kids, money, etc. times to be romantic can feel more like an obligation than a celebration. So how do you make it meaningful for you and your lover? Remember the saying, it’s the thought that counts? While my bride and I believe in doing nice things for each other all year long, date night is a calendar excuse to do just that. I’ve never been one to shop from a list; anyone can do that. Make it personal, instead. My sweetie made a comment once that she needed a box for her mementos of our relationship. That comment went into my mental filing cabinet and that year, I secretly hand built her a hope chest. Needless to say, she cried. Another instance, my baby spent many a late night meticulously assembling a scrapbook of the first two years of our courtship. Rather than gifting something off a shelf with a heavy price tag, this was an inexpensive, tear-jerking gift rich with love, that I still frequently leaf through. How about a handwritten love letter? Let’s be honest; greeting cards don’t always cut it and they can be so darn expensive! With pen and paper, reach into your heart and put it in a letter. My lady did and it was better than anything money could buy. Make new memories together. Rather than spending lots of money on more “stuff,” plan a special date night, get dressed to the nines and go someplace you’d only go on a special occasion, perhaps someplace new. Sure, we may still buy little gifts for one another, but we decided a while back to take the commercialism and obligation out of it and make it about each other.