It's better to give than to receive

Last week I surprised Gabe with an early Christmas present. A Taylor 514ce acoustic guitar. Now, to the layman such as myself, this does not mean much. But to the schooled out there, you know that this is a big, nay, GINORMOUS deal. This is a guitar that Gabe has dreamed of, drooled over, thought he wouldn't be able to own for many more years. I knew I needed to make it happen.

Last Sunday, Brian and I set out to test drive some Taylors. See, when shopping for a Taylor, one must play it to know whether or not it sounds good. And, as I learned, unlike shoe shopping, you want the guitar that everyone else has tried on. So as I am not one that would know which guitar sounded the best, I brought Brian along to help. He was the one person I could think of that Gabe would trust with such a task. Plus, I think it made it even more special to have Brian be a part of this epic moment in Gabe's life. So after trying just two guitars (a 514 and a 614) we found THE ONE. I had Brian take the guitar home for safe keeping, since there is nowhere in our tiny dwelling that I could have succesfully hid it from Gabe. Now, I intended this gift to be a Christmas gift; one that is given on Christmas. I had already planned it all out in my head. We would invite a ton of people over on Christmas, as this is a gift that is to be received in front of a crowd. A little more than 24 hours after I purchased the guitar I broke down, I was so excited for Gabe to have his new Taylor, I was not gonna last till Christmas. I called Brian and asked if he could bring it with him to band practice on Tuesday night. (I had decided that Brian really needed to be there when I gave the guitar to Gabe, since he had played a part in the picking out of the guitar). Those 2 days of having that guitar and not giving it to Gabe, not being able to say anything, knowing how bad he was going to FREAK OUT when he saw it, those 2 days killed me. Sheer torture.
When Brian showed up Tuesday night (before Gabe got home from work) with IT, I almost couldn't contain my excitement. After those agonizing days of waiting, it was finally going to happen. Gabe was so close to having that puppy in his hands. So we set the guitar up in their practice space (our garage) on a guitar stand, in the middle of the floor. Gabe arrived home and we all ate dinner. I was so giddy inside I was almost squirming. And I couldn't look at Brian, because I was afraid I was going to burst, knowing what we knew, and knowing it was going to happen soon. I followed the guys out (I just happened to have to carry a plate of cookies out for them), and when the light came on, there it was, in all her glory. Gabe was mighty confused at first, thinking it might be Brian's, but then realizing it looked much different. He looked at me and I said "Merry Christmas".. When he finally realized it was his guitar, his Taylor, his baby, he was floored. It was seriously one of the best moments of gift giving in my life. I was so thrilled to give him something that he so badly wanted and never expected.
Giving him that guitar, seeing the sheer joy on his face and knowing how much he loves the gift, it was a glimpse into Christmas day. And I thought of Christmas morning when I was a kid, how jumping out of our skins excited my brothers and I were. So excited that we would wake up at 4:00 AM and sit around the tree until my parents got up. I CANNOT WAIT until Christmas. London is going to pee himself silly. Heck. I'm going to pee myself silly.