Rockford gives wonderful gifts. As much as I love being the recipient of his thoughtfulness, I always feel bad on gifting occasions because he showers me with presents he’s spent months picking out and I inevitably end up giving him a pair of jeans and a DVD or a pack of new socks and a CD.

This year, I wanted to do better. So I thought and thought, and I shopped early, and I got him an iPod. I was thrilled. “No way,” I thought, “will he top this.”

So what does he do? He tops it. (Not that I’m complaining.)

It was a very, very long day of gifting around these parts. There are four little bits here for the holidays, so we took frequent breaks for snacks, naps and meals. We finally reached the end of the pile about 30 minutes ago.

I thought I was done. And here comes Rockford, with a plain white envelope. I opened it and pulled out a plain white sheet of paper, with one sentence written on it: “Say ‘Hello’ to Amy for me.”

And I didn’t get it. I said so. And Rockford said, “You fly to Kansas City on …” and that was all I heard because I was too busy trying not to cry to listen to the specifics.

I’ve been lonely since we moved to Ruraltown, USA. I don’t make friends easily, and it makes it that much harder to meet people when you live 20 minutes away from everything. I miss my friends. I can’t wait to see them.

I love my husband so much.

Thanks, Rockford.