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VALENTINE’S DAY AMBUSH
By,
Kathleene S. Baker
Valentine’s Day always brings to mind the year I was ambushed! I was a senior in high school.
It had been a so-so day with me being between boyfriends. Still, I knew Mother would make the day special. I always received a sweet card and a small gift of some sort from my parents, but the highlight would be a special dinner and a homemade, mouth-watering layer cake baked in heart-shaped pans. To this day I have those pans that turned out scrumptious treats of love on Valentine’s Day.
“I’m really getting worried. You know your dad is never late for dinner!” Mom’s voice was anxious. She paced back and forth to the window, glanced at the clock, and tried to keep dinner warm without burning anything.
Being a self-absorbed teenager, I continued my phone conversation until I heard the door open and Mother scolding, “Where have you been? I’ve been worried sick!”
I rounded the corner to see Dad’s arms full of flowers and a box of chocolates. He smiled at Mom. “Happy Valentine’s Day, honey!”
Mom all but jumped into his arms along with his tokens of love. He juggled gifts so they would not fall to the floor while trying graciously to accept Mom’s embrace and kiss.
Mother’s new bouquet took center stage on the table and we sat down for dinner. Next to my plate I spied a small package that had not been there when I set the table! “What’s this?” I squealed.
“Just open it!” Dad’s mischievous blue eyes sparkled.
“Is it from you?”
“Just open it,” he insisted.
I ripped into it and found a brand new bottle of Ambush cologne! ”Dad, did you buy this? Did you buy it all by yourself?
“Well, kind of. It took some help from the clerk and I began to wonder if I’d ever get home for dinner.”
A Valentine gift from my dad...the first one ever from just Dad! I was stunned and gave him a huge hug. “Oh, thank you, Dad! But, how did you even know what kind to buy?”
“I’ve seen your bottles around here a million times and knew I could remember the name if I thought about western movies…ya know, they’re always ambushing each other. Everything was fine until the clerk asked me what kind I wanted. I told her Apache.”
“Apache!” I giggled. “Oh, no! Apache?”
Dad grumbled and informed me it wasn’t that funny at all. The clerk insisted there was no such cologne, while he swore there was. They went round and round until he decided maybe he had forgotten the name, but made it clear he would recognize the smell since his daughter seemingly bathed in it. That’s when the aggravated, cranky clerk began a "misting marathon."
“I sneezed, snorted, and nearly got sick! Then suddenly she hit on the right one. I’d know that scent anywhere!”
Never once have I asked Dad what possessed him to buy me a gift that year. Realizing my days under his roof were soon drawing to a close has always been my suspicion.
Yes, Valentine’s Day of my senior year out-shined all others by leaps and bounds.
Roses, teddy bears, and cupids abound each February creating what will one day be fond remembrances. As for me, warm memories of my Valentine’s Day Ambush are revisited! They reside in a special niche of my heart…the niche that is reserved for my dad…
©2008 revisionKathleene S. Baker
Lnstrlady@aol.com
www.txyellowrose.com
Similar version published in Chicken Soup for the Soul...Thanks Dad
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