Let me tell you about the birthday I almost ruined—mine.
It started with a small, disappointing gift: a bottle of shower gel. That’s what my husband handed me on the morning of my birthday. No card, no flowers, no ribbon. Just… shower gel.
I tried to smile, but inside, I was fuming.
We weren’t struggling financially. His business was doing fine, and I’d even checked our bank account the week before—we were more than comfortable. So, what was this? A $5 bottle of shower gel? On my birthday?
And the scent—ugh. It was the exact one I’ve told him I can’t stand. Too strong, too artificial. I thought he knew me better than that. The more I looked at the bottle, the more insulted I felt. I couldn't believe that was all he thought I was worth on my special day.
When he left for work, I sat on the edge of the bed and cried. Then, in a dramatic fit of frustration, I marched into the bathroom and poured the entire bottle down the toilet. The scent lingered in the air, making me even angrier.
Later that evening, he came home with a huge grin on his face, like a kid with a secret. “Did you find it?” he asked.
I blinked. “Find what?”
He looked confused. “The gift. The real one. I hid it in the shower gel.”
My stomach dropped.
“…What?”
Turns out, my sweet, thoughtful, completely misguided husband had hollowed out the top part of the shower gel bottle, wrapped a beautiful ring in plastic, and carefully tucked it inside—hidden beneath the cap. It was a dainty gold ring with a tiny sapphire, the one I’d pointed out months ago. He’d planned the whole thing as a cute surprise.
Except I’d flushed it down the toilet.
I just stood there, staring at him, horrified. “I thought… it was just shower gel,” I whispered.
His smile faltered.
We ended up laughing and crying at the same time. He forgave me (thankfully), and we agreed that next time, he’d pick a gift that didn’t require detective work. I promised to hold off on dramatic toilet-based decisions in the future.
The ring was gone forever, but the story lives on.
Moral of the story?
Sometimes a terrible gift isn’t what it seems. And sometimes love looks like a bottle of awful-smelling shower gel—hiding a much bigger surprise inside.