About nine years ago our 25th wedding anniversary was coming soon and I wanted to honor my wife and celebrate our anniversary in a special way. What I had in mind was to have some men help me to surprise and serenade her. I figured that it would be very special if even a few men helped up to do it, but when I asked for help, I was surprised and very pleased when eleven men showed up on very short notice!

What happened next was largely due to the good ideas they came up with to make the experience even more memorable.

My wife heard a knock on the door and when she opened it, she was surprised to see me on one knee directly in front of her, with 11 men forming a semi-circle behind me. We were each holding a long-stemmed red rose and began singing a rousing rendition of the Temptations song, “My Girl” to her. It even included some cool (or
should I say “GROOVY!?”) dance moves that the men had come up with and practiced at another location just prior to the knock on the door! We sang to her accompanied by a boom box playing the song.

Our audience grew as neighbors came out to see what was going on. They clapped and cheered us on.

When the song and dance were finished, each man in turn stepped forward and handed a long-stemmed red rose to my wife, gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek, and congratulated her. I then gave a bouquet of 25 long-stemmed red roses—one for each year of our marriage—to her along with a big hug and kiss.

The kindness and thoughtfulness of the men helped to create a truly magical and memorable evening. While I’d known some of the men for years, I’d only recently met some of the others. They had driven up to two hours round trip in heavy commute traffic to be there for the relatively brief experience. They all had other things that they could have been doing. Some had families waiting for them at their homes for dinner. Others took time off from work.

They weren’t professional singers or performers; just regular men who gave a special gift to a special woman and me.

I’m very grateful to have my wife and such men in my life.