Our friends, Hallie and James (pictured above in the center), were married nearly two years ago. Well, somehow, we have managed to not see them since they tied the knot. We had two wedding presents for them that we took to Oxford, but never managed to get to the reception. So, for almost two years, we have held on to these presents — taken them places where we thought we might see them, placed them among holiday gifts in hopes we'll get to have a holiday visit — but we still have the presents!
Because of the time that has passed, the presents are now marked with claw prints. Clementine, the youngest cat, afterall, was still a baby when the Collins were wed. The gifts, we noticed, also have a few dead pine needles tucked between the wrapping paper from sitting under not one, but two Christmas trees.
Not only have we broken etiquette by not delivering the presents in the one-year time allotted, we have tackily begun traveling with the presents. Most recently, we took the gifts to Biloxi, where they enjoyed a nice overnight stay at the Beau Rivage. As a parting gift, the bell boy stuck some lovely "Beau Rivage" stickers on each package (as he did with the rest of our "luggage"). It's almost like a passport stamp for these sad presents.
With the threat of Gustav lurking while we were on the Coast, we didn't get to visit with Hallie and James as we had originally planned, so the gifts came back to Vicksburg, where they have moved from the porch to the living room and, I'm sure, in three months will make their annual visit under the tree.
Below, you can see that the gifts made their first long distance trip to Biloxi. Who knows where they'll travel next!
