The Sweetest Surprise from my Awesome Husband

My husband called me today and told me he was stopping at the Exchange. For those who don’t know, it’s a big giant retail store for military members. It’s like a brand name Wal-Mart because they sell everything except groceries, but it’s all good brand name items, like Roxy clothes, Coach purses, etc.

Later in the afternoon, my husband sent me a text telling me he had a surprise for me.

Naturally, I asked him what it was. I figured I’d have to wait until he got home, but he started sending me clues.

The first clue was this:

I have been one acquainted with the night.
I have walked out in rain -- and back in rain.
I have outwalked the furthest city light.
I have looked down the saddest city lane.
I have passed by the watchman on his beat
And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.
I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet
When far away an interrupted cry
Came over houses from another street,
But not to call me back or say good-bye;
And further still at an unearthly height,
A luminary clock against the sky
Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.
I have been one acquainted with the night.
 

--Acquainted with the Night by Robert Frost

 Now, I’m not a huge Robert Frost fan or a huge poetry buff, otherwise my first guess would have been a book of poetry or a book of Frost poetry. So I said I didn’t know. My husband then says, “Look at the title. Figure it out.”  

 

My first thought was something related to vampires. I mean, they ARE the creatures of the night and my favorite supernatural being. Is that why my husband chose that poem? But then I realized that I also love stars and space, so perhaps he got something related to star-gazing? I didn’t think he would have gotten me a specific book about/with vampires or space, nor would he have gotten the seasons of any vampire or space related television shows. I was racking my brain trying to figure out what on earth he got for me at the Exchange. He didn’t respond, so I figured I must have been way off.  

 

Then, he sent me letters to unscramble. (Now that I know what it is, I realize he got the letters wrong because he thought it was called something else. However, I figured it out and I’ll share the clues regardless.)  

My second clue: “Unscramble this: tparhpgeil.”  

 

 

Seriously? I’m so bad at unscrambling words and I have virtually no clues! He told me it was 2 words.

 

I have this insane sheet of paper with the craziest things on it. Lie, Apple, Gear, Grapple, Light, Right, Tarp, Ripple… but I had the hardest time making it into two words, let alone two words that tell me something. Once I got to Apple Right… I knew I was onto something. Somewhere on my sheet of paper, I had the word Paper. Apple right… mix a few letters around… and I got Paper Light. Paper Light…

       

I knew EXACTLY what he got me. A KINDLE PAPERWHITE!!! (Which is pretty close to Paper Light and that’s exactly how I figured it out.)

  

My Reaction (and, yes, I totally sent him this GIF via text message):

Last night, I saw a commercial for the Kindle Paperwhite and eyed my television screen longingly. I have a Kindle Touch that I love, but I can’t read it without a light. And even though it’s rare that I want to read and have no access to light, it happens and it just happened to me on Sunday night as I was out in the country. I was cold and sitting in the truck reading, which was all well and good until the sun set.

 

 

I don’t know what is sweeter: my husband noticing my longing stare at the Kindle Paperwhite commercial or the puzzles he sent me to figure out my gift. That Robert Frost poem was great and absolutely perfect! I seriously have the most awesome husband ever.