The perfect gift. Or, Steiner Sports makes me look gooooddddd.

Okay, so you know how every occasion you want to find that perfect gift? You think and look and search and wrack your brains. And if you're very luck you find a really good gift. But for the most part a perfect gift for whatever occasion you are purchasing or making a gift for you never quite achieve perfection. Well, last year, I found the Holy Grail of anniversary gifts. Well, if you're a football fan and more specifically, a New York Giants fan. I need to take you back in time a wee bit so you will fully understand what we have here. Way back, many moons ago, when I was very young, okay I wasn't that young but work with me here I'm tellin' a tale, I'm Irish and I get artistic license in the tellin' of me own tale. Now, where was I? Oh yea, I was young. It was April, 1987 and my "bestie" as a best friend is referred to now, was getting married. And I, also being her bestie,(how convenient huh)was one of the bridesmaids in her wedding. And she was to wed a man from New York. . As with all weddings, the bride had her friends stand with her and the groom had his friends stand with him at the altar to witness this joyous occasion. There were seven of us on each side, no chance of "take backs" or "I never said that" here. :-) It was just in this particular instance, we were importing the men over on that side of the room from New York. You see, I grew up in small town Colorado. I loved 3 things. My family, the mountains, and the Denver Broncos. Now, a horrible, horrible thing happened in January of that year. The New York Giants had beaten my Broncos,(yes they were mine,no matter what Pat Boland thought)in the Super Bowl. It was tragic, really. Hey I was 16, tragedy was a relative term. Anyway, so the men flew in and I got a call reporting on the one I was to be paired up with for the weekend. Yes, dear reader this tale just took a turn for the sappy, we did meet at a wedding. But I digress. So, I received intel that this man, this person I was to spend the next 5 days with had actually deplaned in Stapleton airport dressed in Giants gear from head to toe. At which point, I seriously considered doing a runaway bridesmaid. There was no way I was spending 5 days with a Giants fan. Seriously, a Giants fan? What had I ever done to Karma? However, remember where I grew up. We all had gun racks in our pickups. She had brothers. I liked breathing. So, I decided that 5 days wasn't so bad and I could do this. Fast forward 5 years and I finally got my revenge. We got everyone back together, switched up places, and I married him! Yea me. Shortly after, as in two days after, I moved to New York with my brand new husband. And within a year or two my loyalties moved to New York also and I am now what can only be referred to as a Die Hard Giants fan. No, really. My toaster toasts the Giants logo onto the bread. It has become an illness. My children say goodbye at the beginning of every football season. Now, fast forward again to last August. It was our 21st Anniversary and we would be spending it at the stadium watching a preseason game. Our anniversary was days away and I was on the hunt for a gift for him. What, you thought only guys wait until the last minute to get anniversary gifts? What could I get him that he'd like and would have meaning? But most importantly, would get here on time. When in doubt, go to google. Considering where we were going to be I thought sports memorabilia would be good. Something from the year we met would be better. Enter Steiner Sports and my personal angel JJ Molesso. I searched the website for something from the year we met hoping I could get something unique with an autograph if I was lucky. Suddenly, there it was. The holy grail of anniversary gifts. "THE" perfect gift. The thing I'd sell a kidney to get him. Cue the choir of angels. It was a full size helmet signed by 29 of the 1986 NY Giants. But it would take a week to get here. I had to have it. I had to be able to give him this helmet in the parking lot of the stadium. I HAD to. So, I called the number provided for help and JJ Molesso answered the phone. I babbled at him like a toddler who couldn't form complete sentences yet, about the helmet and the anniversary and the time crunch and the HAVE to thing. He was so helpful and wonderful. He very calmly talked the blathering idiot off the ledge, got the pertinent information from me and then said " you know, if you want, you can come get this. I'll pull it and put it in the office for you to come and get, you're only about an hour or so away" So, the next day off I went to get the helmet. I was in and out in minutes and drove home like I had my first newborn in the car. He loved it. He took it everywhere for weeks and showed it to everyone. I am secure in the knowledge that I have managed to give the perfect gift. Wait..... I've given the perfect gift. It's done. There's nothing I can ever do to top that. We're going to have another anniversary this year. And we'll be spending it at the stadium for a preseason game. (the Jets no less) I wonder if they'd notice if I sneaked him into the locker room to meet the team? Anyone got bail money? Just in case. Anyone?