One in a million

By kate on July 30th, 2005

When we confirmed that I was pregnant, Steve presented me with a very light cardboard box. The inside was filled with packing peanuts and a few folded index cards, with a point value written on the outside of each. He explained that whenever I needed cheering up, I could reach into the box and open a card with a point value that corresponded to the severity of my mood. The points varied from 1 to 10, and the cards would be replaced as they were used up.
 
It was such a thoughtful gift! I’ve opened a handful of cards so far, even though things haven’t been too bad, because Steve was excited for me to get going. Inside each card is written a location in the house, and that’s where the gift itself is located, if it’s tangible (a new kind of tea, cheddar crackers). A couple of times I’ve gotten a coupon for back scratching, which is one of my favorite things.
 
Anyway, one index card boasted a one million point value. My inclination was to save that for a REALLY rainy day. However, Steve had encouraged me not to wait forever, so earlier this week when I had a very stressful workday (the culmination of a month of the same), I decided to bite the bullet and get the one-million-point gift.
 
To tell the next part of this story, I have to take a few steps back.
 
First, when I was growing up, my parents had a pram. Short for “perambulator”, this was an expensive British baby carriage in navy blue with white and chrome accents. It’s what you might picture a very proper nanny would use to take an infant Prince to get some fresh air. I’m not sure what prompted the purchase, really, or where they even knew to buy such a thing in the days before the internet. In any case, it was a unique fixture of our childhoods until we got too big to ride in it, at which point it was suspended on hooks from our garage ceiling along with outgrown bicycles. (Postscript: now that my parents have graduated into grandparenthood, the pram has been refurbished and spit-shined for new little visitors.)
 
A month or two before we were trying to get pregnant, we walked by a closed consignment store and I saw something I didn’t know existed: a stroller-sized version of the pram! Because of the store’s limited hours, it was a few days before I could get back, and by then it had been sold. I was crushed! I knew I would never encounter another one so easily.
 
You’re probably guessing what comes next. When I opened the door to our attic (the location on the million-point card), there was the very same stroller! Steve had snuck back to the store in the intervening days and bought it. I was thrilled and amazed. It needs a little cleaning and shining, but it’s sturdy and as classy as ever. The handle even folds flat for transport (although it will probably stay at our house most of the time).
 

 
Not only did it cheer me up a million points’ worth that day, it makes me smile every time I think of it.


Filed under: pregnancy, relationships
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3 Responses to “One in a million”

  1. zachdms Says:
    July 29th, 2005 at 6:41 pm

    This secretly makes me think of the baby carriage from The Addams Family. It is quite cute.

  2. daymented Says:
    February 9th, 2006 at 8:29 pm

    What kind is it? It’s awesome!

  3. it_lives_within Says:
    February 10th, 2006 at 9:53 am

    It’s a Silver Cross (the real deal!).

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