Oh, my darling Loralee,
My heart is pounding with the anticipation of this moment! I have wanted to give you all there is in the world, but I do not have the means. But I will give you all that I have, and all that I am.
Don't be shy! Close the doors to the bedroom. Put on only the bra, panties and blindfold. When you are ready, knock on the door to the suite (not the hallway), and sit on the edge of the bed.
I have one more gift for you, and it is a surprise.
Your Admirer,
Bruce
Oh! I just knew it was Bruce! (Good thing! It would have been really, incredibly frightening at this point if it wasn't him!) I followed the instructions, to the letter, and waited.
Sweet Nothings
Pretty soon Bruce came in, and delivered a kiss. He carefully, oh so gently removed . . .
. . . the blindfold, and I got to see my last gifts: a gorgeous, floor-length, green gown of velvet and taffeta presented by a very dashing, handsome husband dressed up in a tuxedo. After a little kissing and necking (only a little—didn't want to mess up the hair-do!), he told me to get dressed and touch up my make-up.
So I got all dressed up and then we went down to the big front porch of the house, where a little picnic had been set up and a photographer was waiting for us. We had some pictures taken while we nibbled on strawberries, salmon mousse with crackers, and sipped sparkling grape juice. Then Bill Shacklett and his sister, Gloria (the photographers) took us all over Simply Southern and across the street to the MTSU campus (also a beautiful place) to take our pictures as the sun was setting. I think Bill and Gloria were having just as much fun as we were. Gloria found a "sweetheart tree"—two adjoining trunks, becoming one tree—for us to lean on for some of the pictures. ("How perfect! A sweetheart tree!") And Bill kept saying how Bruce was making every man in the state look bad, and if word got out there would be a lynching party. We had lots of fun! The whole event was so nice.
Front Porch Picnic
Back in our suite, around 7 p.m, we had dinner catered in from another nice restaurant—but neither of us was really hungry. So we went down to the rec-room of the house where Bruce sang me love songs with the Karaoke machine; then we played pool, played the piano, and just relaxed together. We spent that night in the most comfortable bed we'd ever slept in. In the morning we had a fantastic home-made breakfast while we chatted with Georgia and Karl, the owners of Simply Southern, who were the personification of "Southern Hospitality."
At Simply Southern
Later we went to see The Hermitage (Andrew Jackson's home). We shopped a little, and had the disposable camera developed before we picked up our kids late in the afternoon. It was so wonderful to have some time together with no kids and no worries—just each other to think about for a little while.
Isn't he handsome?
Don't I have a wonderful husband? He thinks so much of me, is so very good to me, and takes such good care of me. I am such a lucky girl to have a man like him! He had planned everything beautifully, and I felt like a princess the entire time. Each surprise was so fun and exciting, and all the people that worked with us were as thrilled as I was. It was a lot of fun to have everyone telling me what a wonderful guy I had, too.
A Secret Kiss
The date kind of continued for the next couple of weeks, too, as we chose the pictures we wanted to keep. We had one enlarged to 24x30 (or something like that); now it hangs on my bedroom wall, where it is the last thing I see before I go to sleep and the first thing I look at in the morning. So I often think about the great adventure my husband made, going all-out, just for me.
Happy Couple
The only thing that could have made the day more fun for me would have been to spend more time with Bruce; but that just made it so much the better when he finally was with me. I'd really have to say that it was The Date of the Century!
Next to the "Sweetheart Tree"
And Bruce, this is just a heads-up, but I have to tell you that we are in a new century now! ;-) I love you!
6 comments:
That is such an awesome story! I love how Bruce planned everything in detail so perfectly without you knowing. :) Lovely!
Love the story! Love it! He's making husbands in CA look bad too! (just kidding, David!)
It's great you have this blog, Loralee. Your kids will be thrilled to have this account to share with their kids and so on!
I planned this for YEARS! I spent a lot, but IT WAS WORTH IT. That summer I realized that I only had 2 terms of school, and then I was DONE! I loved Loralee, and appreciated her support and sacrifice for me to go to school--so I took some student loan money and started setting up The Dream Date.
I had so much fun arranging all this. It took four weeks to set it up. One day, I took Loralee on a "cheap date" to try on prom rental dresses. It was more fun than I predicted to see my pretty gal in lots of different gowns!
When I found out how little it cost to buy last year's fashions, I bought her favorite--in green--when I went back to get fitted for my tux.
Each store was run by women, and they would all say "awww!" when I explained what I was doing. I wanted to build up suspense for Loralee, so I wanted her to have lots of places to go and nice things to do. I rented a tux and got her dress (Awww!), I arranged the facial, manacure, hair (Awww!) evening caterers (Awww!), and lunch (Awww!). As I began to see the scope of this whole thing, I realized I should have pictures of this big event! But I didn't want to take them myself (I wanted to be in the pics, too!) so I arranged a professional photographer. (Nice lady with classic southern accent and manners: "So is this a big formal dance?" "No, ma'am." "So it's her birthday?" "Not until April." "Well it must be y'all's wedding anniversary!" "That's in March." "So what's the big occasion? it's not Valentine's in August!" "No, Ma'am. I just want to show her I love her." "Awww! This is so sweet! You need to have a talk with my husband.")
I never expected the reactions from all the ladies at all the stores I went to. But by the time of the big day, as I made final arrangements--just minutes ahead of Loralee!--I was predicting every word of conversation when I paid the girls at Castner-Knott's (Awww!). I didn't know I could have such a profound emotional effect on so many females I didn't even know--all the compliments, dreamy-eyed smiles, and heavy sighs--I could get used to that.
But I have much greater obsession. I am married to the most beautiful, loyal, smart, sexy, bright-eyed babe of all time! I'll do this for you again, Girlfriend--except, this time, maybe I'll drive for you--or hire a limo to drive for us! Then I could hold your, um, hand--while we drive. ;)
Waddya say--will you go with me, Loralee?
Absolutely YES! Any time. ALL the time! How about semi-annually?
I Love You Bruce!
this is such a nice story! I like to hear your side of the story dad. it sounds like so much fun!! I hope my husband will do somthing a little like this when i am married. :)
love lindsey
I really think this was a great story! I never thought I would have geussed who it was. But now I know! To tell the truth it was a very GREAT BLOG! I LOVE IT!!
Ryan
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