I Bought My Wife a Dress

I bought my wife a dress. That sentence alone should give you a hint as to where this story is going. We had been dating a year. It was our first Christmas together. I went to Macy’s and found myself trapped by an array of women attire. I was fortunate enough to have an elderly lady come to my rescue. I told her I wanted to by my girlfriend a dress. She asked, “What size does she wear?” I was always told it was impolite to ask a woman her size. Being polite doesn’t help when you're trying to by your woman a dress. I guessed. Then she asked, “What color does she like?” I said, “I don’t know.” We hadn’t got that serious. I thought bright colors would look good on her so I said, “purple.” Then she said, “You want it loose fitting or tight?” We weren’t married yet. I said, “Tight.”

I found this purple dress, knee length with a little flower on the shoulder. I was certain she would find the flower cute. The nice lady at Macy’s folded the dress properly into a box and sent it over to have it wrapped by Macy's elves. Purple wrapping paper to match the purple dress. I couldn’t wait until Christmas to give my thoughtful gift to my beautiful girl.

On Christmas Day, she arrived at my parents' house. We had dinner, then took turns unwrapping presents while sitting around the tree. I saved the best for last. I handed her the box. She ripped off the purple wrapping paper, slid open the box, and pulled out the purple dress. It was the right size. I insisted she go and try it on. She came back modeling the dress and looking radiant.

It wasn’t until our first year of marriage that I realized that I had never seen her wear my purple dress. One night while we were getting ready for dinner I suggested, “Why don’t you wear the purple dress I bought you three years ago?” She encouraged me to sit down. She let me know that my purple dress was one of the ugliest dresses she had ever seen. The dress made her want to puke. She would be humiliated if she had to wear that dress in public. I asked, “What about the flower on the shoulder?”

Sometimes it takes commitment before you can deal with the truth.