With Valentine's Day approaching, romance authors spend a lot of time (more time than other people, perhaps?) thinking about gift giving. We've had a few blog posts recently about gift giving and it gave me an idea to post about Tuesday gifts.
Are you familiar with Tuesday gifts? You probably are but haven't used this label before. My girlfriends and I coined the phrase to describe a gift you give someone for no other reason than because you love them and were thinking of them. As in, "This is for you. Happy Tuesday!"
There is a movie that better explains this type of gift giving. If you have not yet seen the 2000 movie, FINDING FORRESTER, do yourself a favor and rent it. It's a beautiful story. Sean Connery (did I have you at Sean Connery?) stars as a novelist who becomes a recluse after his first novel becomes a best-selling success. He meets a gifted teenage writer and begins mentoring him.
In the movie, his protege talks about a girl at school he likes. Sean Connery gives him some excellent advice. He tells him to give her "an unexpected gift at an unexpected time." The kid does and, of course, the object of his affections loves it. Sean Connery knew the power of a Tuesday gift!
I think giving Tuesday gifts is more exciting than receiving them. I was traveling all last week visiting family. Eight days is the longest (by far!) that I have ever been away from my children. So, because I can be a great planner (when I put my mind to it), I hid a bag of treats in my closet for them to find. I texted them one morning with instructions to go digging in my closet and...surprise! I had only wrapped little notebooks, pens and M&M candies, but the excitement of getting a Tuesday gift carried much more weight than anything I could have given them before or after the trip. An unexpected gift, at an unexpected time.
So what is the best Tuesday gift you have ever received? Or given?
This blog post originally appeared on the Harlequin Heartwarming Blog as "An Unexpected Gift".
You can find more heartwarming blog posts from me and other authors at http://heartwarmingauthors.blogspot.com/