If you’ve visited here before, you probably know that we’ve had an eventful three weeks in my family. Just before Easter, my father-in-law had a small stroke and went into the hospital, where it was determined that he had a severe urinary tract infection. While his doctors were waiting for the reports to come back on the first stroke, he had a second stroke that incapacitated his ability to speak and swallow.
Then there was Easter.
Bill seemed to be recovering, and was transferred to a rehabilitation center. We talked about therapy and hospital beds at home, and the excellent rehab available for stroke victims at a center located about 45 minutes’ drive away. Then the pneumonia that seemed to have been held at bay by antibiotics returned, and the UTI turned into a kidney infection. Bill’s doctor found that he had an advanced cancer of the blood plasma. We talked about hospice. The feeding tube was removed, and the IVs. The doctor said, “Two to five days. Five, probably.”
It wasn’t even forty-eight hours before the call came, early Saturday morning.
The next day was Mother’s Day. And The CEO and I reached our 19-year wedding anniversary on Monday, May 9. We didn’t feel like celebrating, so we gave each other our cards, and held on to each other some. I gave him a small bottle of Dior Homme Sport, which was one of the samples he’d liked when testing several.
The CEO gave me this:
Certificate of Perfumery
To All To Whom These Words Come, Greeting:
Whereas, [Mals Woodenshoes] has been a helpful, loyal and devoted and loving wiff* for __19__ years and
Whereas, [Mals] has shown patience, kindness, and love on a consistent and regular basis, often going above and beyond the call of wiffly duty and
Whereas, [Mals] has a fondness for and interest in perfumes and perfumery
Therefore, let it be known to all that
[Mals] is entitled to a portion of the Treasury of [The CEO}
Not to exceed ___$75_____
For the purchase of perfumes, colognes, eau de toilettes, scents, fragrances, lotions, bath oils, and other items with pleasing aromas
Upon the condition that she wears said perfumes, scents, etc. and allows [The CEO] to give analysis and review of said perfumes, scents, etc. and subsequently place priority on choosing from those perfumes, scents, etc. the ones which [The CEO] finds most appealing .
Written by my hand and authorized by my signature this _9th____ day of ___May_______ in the year of our Lord two-thousand and ___11______.
____________________________
The CEO Woodenshoes
This tells me three things, at least. One, that The CEO loves me and appreciates me and wants to share in my interests. Two, that he was too busy to go shopping… not that he doesn’t avoid shopping whenever he can. And three, he’s been serving on too many boards of nonprofit entities lately.
I’m going to test his reaction to Parfums DelRae Amoureuse. What else should I let him smell on me?
*”Wiff” is an old joke between us: I’m the “wiff” because he wants me to be “wiff” him. All together now: Awwwwwww.
Photo is from risingfeenix.com. Sadly, none of my wedding photos are digital. It was back in the Dark Ages, after all.
What a beautiful certificate!!! *smile*
I’m so sorry about your father-in-law (((hugs))))
He did good, didn’t he?
That certificate was very sweet. Thanks for sharing your story.
It was sweet!
That got me to smiling and tearing up all at the same time. God bless you both.
Meant also to add that I was married in 1990, and my dress was also similar. The neckline was straight across, though, and my sleeves off the shoulder, though they were every bit as puffy. ;o)
I wore a little pillbox hat with a tulle puff thing on the back; most of my friends had the V- headband look when they got married, but I wanted an actual hat!
Thanks, T! I thought it was sweet, too.
I rechecked my photos: the shantung part of my bodice was sweetheart neckline, the lace overlay went straight across. But puffy sleeves, I had ’em. And a big skirt. AND a (small) train that tucked up for the reception.
I had a headband (not the V thing) with a veil. I had wanted a Juliet cap, but couldn’t find one that I liked. Sigh.
Wow! What a wonderful tribute and gift. So…are you testing a bunch of scents, then buying a bottle of the one he likes best? Hmmm…let’s see. Definitely test the scents that are on your wish list!!! What else do you want?
I’m torn… have been wanting some Amoureuse for awhiles (a decant would do, it’s pretty spendy AND pretty strong), but SSS Jour Ensoleille has hit the Want List too.
I’d love some To Dream, but he didn’t like that one. Go figure.
Hmmm…not familiar with any of these. Sorry he didn’t like To Dream! For $75, there are still plenty of good scents out there. I currently have a $50 gift card on Amazon, and have been trying to decide what to get. Many I want are over $100, and I don’t really want to go that high. Currently scoping out Piguet’s Visa ($85 for 50ml). Haven’t sniffed it, though. Hate buying unsniffed. The other one I’m thinking of – Love Chloe. A few others – Prada L’Eau Ambree, Alahine (do you already have this one – $75 at BeautyEncounter), and Alien Liqueur de Parfum ($85 also at BeautyEncounter). These aren’t really niche, but they’re not bad!
Are you KIDDING me, Do I have Alahine??? That was my Christmas present in 2009. Love it, great stuff, wouldn’t celebrate Christmas without it…
I do have about a gazillion untested samples that I’m sure I’ll let him sniff on me, but of the ones I’ve smelled and don’t have even decants of, Jour Ensoleille and Amoureuse are the ones I’ve wanted. He did rather like Lieu de Reves, but it more, “That’s sort of nice.”
There may be something else that pops up as a contender. I guess we’ll see… it doesn’t have to be niche, of course. I just haven’t smelled anything at Macy’s or Belk’s (my only brick-n-mortar sniffy spots) that yells, BUY ME! It’ll probably be something from the online discounters or an indie place. Ooh, hey… I need to test the new Tauer, too. The CEO likes florals.
That is so sweet! My hubby is not a fan of the perfume due to migraines, but he knows how much I love it. So 2 Christmases ago, he got me the Ineke sample set and last Christmas, he got me Mandy Aftel’s book.
That was sweet of him! (Is he on medication for migraine prevention or anything? Seems to me that I had a friend who had to take something to keep the migraines from taking over her life.)
He does take something daily for prevention, but he still gets them here and there. He doesn’t get them often (maybe one every 2 months), but when he does, he is totally incapacitated, usually for a day or more. He seems to be getting more and more sensitive to smells – my perfume didn’t used to bother him that much and he would even wear stuff I got for him, until he got a migraine one night when he was wearing something. No more of that!
Bummerrr. Both for him, and for you.
I just now saw this. It made me tear up.
What a blessing and a treasure of the heart.
I don’t know else to say…I love it.
P.S. I hope he loves Amoureuse on you ❤
xoxo~T
Awww. He can be awfully sweet sometimes…
He might very well like Amoureuse, he tends to like white florals.
That dress is so very similar to mine (married in 1991) it’s almost eerie – although I had long sleeves made, since it was a February wedding. And in defense of all us poofy-sleeve-wedding-dress-wearers, it was a major coup just to find a dress that wasn’t DRIPPING in lace and pearls and sequins and such. After all, we were just coming out of the 80’s, and I felt very elegant and different in my non-blinged shantung silk. So there. 😉
Love the card the CEO made for you. I got something similar from mine for Christmas.
Also, condolences on your FIL.
Oh dear. I had shantung silk too… but blinged! Lace applique on the bodice and sleeves, with pearls. Also, an eeeeeenormous butt-widening bow on the back. I mean, I wouldn’t call it “dripping” with lace and embroidery – I saw a lot floofier on some of my friends who were getting married about the same time – but it was definitely embellished.
Your sweetie did good, too. So what did you buy? Did he insist on helping you pick out a scent?
I got a bottle of TDC’s Bois d’Iris, ‘cuz I’m an iris freak. He doesn’t really insist on helping me pick out stuff, since I already got the fragrance that he likes best – DK’s Black Cashmere (I call it my “how YOU doin?” fragrance, because he REALLY likes it).
He and I have similar taste, as the scents he comments on unsolicited tend to be especially fabulous on me. The first time I wore OJ Woman got a “Wow! Honey, that’s great on you!” from him. (Needless to say, just got it for Mother’s Day.)
I think yours and my chemistry is a bit different when it comes to the greens, because after much sampling I discovered Bel Respiro is lovely on me – far better than No. 19 – and lasts for hours. He’s been asking for me to find a scent that smells like grass, and this one hit the spot for him. I foresee a bottle in the next few months…
Oh, I’m so glad Bel Respiro lasts on you! It was so pretty for half an hour that I’d have been happy for it to stay there for awhile. OJ Woman is another one I wanted to love and didn’t (it goes very amber-centric early and completely loses that green aromatic thing – nice, but it wasn’t love). I like Chaos, but I have yet to even try Black Cashmere – also, I think in my mind I’m relating it to Cashmere Mist, which is a chemical mess IMO. Also, of the DK scents, my local dept store only carries Cashmere Mist, Be Delicious and the Delicious flankers. NO, thanks.
I am surprised that No. 19 doesn’t work for you, if you love iris… It’s very irisy, if you ask me. However, I *don’t* love iris, I like it much better when it’s not the focus, so maybe that’s the deal. Bois d’Iris was very wood-focused, I thought, and I liked it but wasn’t bowled over. I found it soft and pretty.
It’s a good thing that you and your hubby have similar tastes! I can’t really predict what mine is going to like.
I think that this note/certificate is better than any perfume (but I still hope you’ll find the one you both like).
I wish you many more happy years together!
Thanks for the good wishes! I’m sure we can find a fragrance we both like, and I think we’ll have fun doing it.
That is so beautiful, Mals! What a great husband and how lovely to see such love after 19 years, I hope I will be so lucky too… 🙂
He’s pretty great, B. Wishing you as much love in your marriage…
Thanks for sharing. Your husband sounds like a total gem. Its a good thing you found each other. Condolences on your father in law. Please update us on the ‘fume search process.
I think he’s a keeper, Rosie. And yep, I’ll share what going on with the scent search.
Ok, no doubt about it now–this guy is a keeper!
Can’t remember how you feel about No. 19 ( I know how you feel about No. 5 and EP) but that is at least the right number for the years you’ve been married!
Not sure there is a No. 20 anything for next year, though….
Very sweet idea, especially given how he’s probably feeling after losing his dad.
Let us know what you decide!
LOVE No. 19, but am stocked. Last year, I lucked out on a bottle of vtg EdT on teh bay, cheap. Srsly, it was a 50ml bottle, in the silver gray case, about 90% full… $23, shipped. I am never shy about “used.”
And yes, he’s a keeper.
I’ll update with more of the selection process.
If you have an opportunity to visit Macy’s, give Esprit d’Oscar a sniff–a nice white floral, and one of the few times an addition to an existing lline was actually worthwhile. (The current formulation of the original Oscar is a disappointment, tho.) Esprit d’Oscar is not as unique as Jour Ensoleille, certainly, but can be found for a reasonable discount on eBay.
You know, Sharon, that’s one I’d like to smell. The original Oscar was biiiig (and I never loved that ashtray note in there anyway), but the Esprit version is sounding very nice.
Love the wiff certificate 🙂 very sweet. Jour Ensoleille is on my want list too (but I noticed it can’t be added to cart at SSS- hope it is coming back!) I agree with the Esprit d’Oscar rec and am happy to send you some if you wanna shoot me an email!
I’m tempted by the Esprit sample, HV… very tempted.
I think Laurie said JE will return to the cart this summer. Don’t know when. And would love to smell her summer floral first, anyway.