Daddy’s Man Cave Puzzle
What gift do you buy a person who has everything and says "I don't need anything" but you know they still want something?
My daddy retired back in 2013; seemingly without fanfare because I don’t remember any. What I do remember is going home for a visit and taking him a box set of puzzles and him saying, “Thanks?” He low key hurt my feelings because I thought it was a good gift and he wasn’t interested.
I put one of the puzzles together on my visit trying to show him how fun it was and he said something about having plenty to do, he wasn’t old and he wasn’t going to be sitting around doing puzzles. Bark barkbark…
Barking back….What I thought I’d done was snatch up the puzzle I was working on and then taken them all back home with me.
Fast forward nearly 10 years later and while on Christmas vacation visiting my brother and his family, daddy started working on a puzzle. He finished a 300-piece puzzle in two days and gave me the play by play of how much he was enjoying it.
Text Message
Daddy: Why didn’t you tell me I liked puzzles? I had fun. I think we have one at home to look forward to.
Me: 😳🙄
With his newfound love for puzzles, I immediately knew what to get him for his January birthday. So I jumped on the idea to make sure he would get it on time.
I had a puzzle made from a photo I took of him playing his bass guitar. I wanted it to look like art and not a photo, so it would be more difficult to put together and possibly something he’d want to hang in his man cave once he was done.
The Puzzle Image
I used an app called PicsArt, and Christopher helped me choose the look. He liked this one best because it made his glasses “pop”. Then I used Photoshop to give it the proper size/resolution and uploaded to Shutterfly for the printing.
In a separate purchase, I ordered him a puzzle organizer and a puzzle saver. Everything had arrived before the end of the year and his birthday wasn’t until January 16th. Now we wait.
The Puzzle Organizer
Meanwhile back at the ranch, mom texted me that daddy was about to start on a new puzzle that my brother sent him home with and asked if she could give him the puzzle organizer. I knew with that, daddy would know what he was getting for his birthday but he would still be very surprised.
Finally January 16th arrived and mom KNEW that daddy knew he was getting puzzles. She said the gifts had been arranged in a way that she was certain he had moved and shaken them.
The Man Cave Puzzle
The 550-piece puzzle came in a very small box. I’m not sure if he knew in that moment how difficult it would be, how big or that he’d put it on his wall.
He sent me his progress along the way until he was done.
One more gift from Christopher arrived late a few days later…
A Coffee Mug
You can never go wrong with a coffee mug. We used the puzzle image and the cup says, “Granddaddy you ROCK” From Your Favorite Grandson.
Daddy loves the mug and said it’s too special to drink out of. He kept it on the table while he worked on the puzzle, but now it’s in mom’s china cabinet.
Full Circle Moment
Daddy texted me yesterday: I found the other puzzles
Puzzles from 2013
Me: 😳🙄
It took him almost ten years to appreciate the gift he would never imagine wanting.
THE END