Week 22:
Gift Getting: What I always wanted but not very much
The second thing I thought of for Gift Getting under this Marketing for Romance Writers week twenty-two topic was a car—a Fiat—a gift from my husband upon my high school graduation.
As a wife with two kids, I went back to high school as an adult to get my diploma, and I received it with honors.
Afterward, I went on to graduate from college. It’s a long story why I did this, but it’s for another time and place.
Back to Gift Getting.
The day I came home after the graduation ceremony from high school, a little blue car sat in my front yard. A real shock! If you knew my (ex) husband, you’d know how shocking. He didn’t do things like buy a new (used) car, but this time, he did.
Now for the “not very much” part of the topic.
Needless to say, I’d been grateful and happy for the gift. If I had chosen the car, it would not have had a four-on-the-floor manual transmission. I knew how to drive a stick-shift and had a couple cars with a standard transmission in my youth, and I had learned in drivers training. One time in our marriage, my husband and I had a four-on-the-floor Camaro. Fun!
On the day I got behind the wheel of my graduation gift and observed a clutch, I kept quiet. Oh, yes, I appreciated this gift because it came as a heartfelt gesture. I never said anything to my husband about the standard trans. So it turned out to be a day I received a gift I always wanted, but not very much.
For this topic, I almost mentioned a publisher I once had and how thrilled I had been to sign a contract–a gift to myself. Until it wasn’t, but I learned this too late. So, again, signing a publishing contract turned out to be a gift I always wanted but not very much, in this case, anyway.
Click the LINK to be taken to Marketing For Romance Writers Blog and URLs to others who are participating. #MFRWauthor
Thanks for reading.
Happy Dancin’ News: My full-length novel due out in November went to the editor last week! I’m looking forward to cover design next, but I’m holding up on the cover for now.
Image Credits:
Top: Pixabay ErikaWittlieb
Dancer: Pixabay OpenClipart-Vectors
Car interior Pixabay viganhajdari (Modified by yours truly.)
Mary J. McCoy-Dressel 
8 thoughts on “#AmWriting Week 22: Appreciating Gifts? #MFRWauthor”
Helen Henderson
Interesting stories that I can relate to. Thanks for sharing.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
Glad you think so, Helen. Thanks for reading.
LikeLike
Kate Hill (@katehillromance)
It was a nice thought.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
Yes, it was, Kate. Straight from the heart.
LikeLike
Cathy Brockman
I woulda been very disappointed since I can’t drive a standard manual transmission but I guess it was a nice thought. . I missed this week with all the baby shower prep I just didn’t have time.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
The baby shower was important, Cathy. My husband (at the time) knew I could drive one, so he probably didn’t give it a second thought.
LikeLike
Rhonda Gilmour writing romance as Sadira Stone
Did it take you a long time to learn to drive a stick shift? That’s what I first learned to drive, and in distracted moments I still reach for the non-existent clutch at stop signs and traffic lights.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
Driving in traffic while learning was scary as heck, and I remember stalling out a lot at traffic lights. I don’t think it took a long time to learn, Rhonda, but it took a long time before I felt confident in the clutch work. I remember pushing in a make-believe clutch in an automatic after driving a standard trans too. My brother’s father-in-law slammed on the brake once thinking it was the clutch, and it sent my young nephew into the dashboard and he needed stitches in his head. Before seat belts were in every car.
LikeLike