as happening he beamed from ear to ear! We had drinks and appetizers and at the appropriate moment I got up and toasted him. Then I said I had something to read to him. I just had it printed on a few pieces of paper, stapled together. I figured we could deal with preserving it another time.

The room got totally quiet. You could have heard a pin drop. Luckily I had rehearsed reading it aloud as I wanted to do a good job. When I got through reading everyone broke into applause. My guy came up to hug me and thank me and he couldn't even speak because of the tears running down his face. When he finally got hold of himself he said it was the best present he'd ever gotten and he would cherish it for the rest of his life.

That custom-written tribute set the tone for the rest of the evening. We had dinner and everyon was in a wonderful mood. I had not only mentioned him but his loved ones as well, who were all there. Of course I m

The love of my life was having a big birthday and I wanted to give him a gift he'd never forget. A gift that would prove my love beyond all doubt. But what could I do to make him feel like a king among men?

I could come to the door naked. Nah, been there, done that. I could slave all day and make a delicious meal. Nah, done that one already too.

Maybe a night of dancing and romancing. Or better yet, tickets to his favorite team and unlimited beer. I knew he'd love that, but would I? Now maybe that sounds selfish, but I wanted to get something out of it, too. Sports and a drunken lover are definitely not my thing.

I wracked my brain and asked around until coming up with what I hoped would be the perfect solution. I would get someone to write his life story in rhyme. I'd get all his friends together, throw a nice little bash at his favorite restaurant and then, at the appropriate moment, I'd read the tribute to him.

I wrote down everything I could think of about him. I went way back to his childhood. I even interviewed his siblings and his mother and got all kinds of juicy tidbits. I wanted it to be funny and sentimental all at once, but above all clever. Because he's one smart cookie, that guy of mine, and I wanted him to really love it and be proud Then I went on the internet in search of someone who could write a combination roast and tribute that totally rhymed. I finally chose a service that sounded good and was inexpensive, considering that this would be totally custom-written for me. I was told it would be delivered to me by email and then I could have it framed, presented as a scroll, whatever I wanted.

Being the unreasonable woman that I am, I asked for it to be delivered in two weeks. Can you imagine? A whole life story in verse, written in two weeks. Well, I was told that it would be no problem. This was getting good! The best part was that I could decide exactly how much to spend. They charged a certain amount per stanza and I could decide, based on that, exactly how many stanzas I thought it would take to do the occasion justice.

Goodness, the price was totally reasonable. I couldn't have bought him a nice gift for less. So I went for it. I went on the website, copied and pasted all the information I already had written out and stored in my notepad document. Then I went to the shopping cart and charged the proper amount and that was it! I was assured that my credit card wouldn't actually be charged until I was totally happy with the poem and they would make any changes I wanted, free of charge!

I tried to forget about it for the next two weeks and kept busy doing last minute things for the party, which was going to be a big surprise. I have to admit to being just a wee bit nervous, wondering if the custom-written tribute would be delivered on time. I had been assured that it would be, but we all know how that can go.

So the two weeks flew by and suddenly I checked my email and there it was! I printed it out, went to Starbucks and sat down with a delicious large latte. Then I began to read and wow! I was totally blown away! It was clever. Funny. Sentimental. Mentioned everyone and everything I had asked for. All woven into a totally made to order poem. It was completely original and would not apply to another human being on the planet. And the rhyming was perfect! The writer was a genius!

Finally the night of the party came. I was an excited, nervous wreck. Would my beloved guy secretly know about the surprise party? Or would he be disappointed when he saw a crowd there, wishing it had been just the two of us celebrating? Even though everyone I had invited meant the world to him?

Well, I needn't have worried. We walked into the restaurant and when he saw what was happening he beamed from ear to ear! We had drinks and appetizers and at the appropriate moment I got up and toasted him. Then I said I had something to read to him. I just had it printed on a few pieces of paper, stapled together. I figured we could deal with preserving it another time.

The room got totally quiet. You could have heard a pin drop. Luckily I had rehearsed reading it aloud as I wanted to do a good job. When I got through reading everyone broke into applause. My guy came up to hug me and thank me and he couldn't even speak because of the tears running down his face. When he finally got hold of himself he said it was the best present he'd ever gotten and he would cherish it for the rest of his life.

That custom-written tribute set the tone for the rest of the evening. We had dinner and everyon was in a wonderful mood. I had not only mentioned him but his loved ones as well, who were all there. Of course I me

p>I wrote down everything I could think of about him. I went way back to his childhood. I even interviewed his siblings and his mother and got all kinds of juicy tidbits. I wanted it to be funny and sentimental all at once, but above all clever. Because he's one smart cookie, that guy of mine, and I wanted him to really love it and be proud Then I went on the internet in search of someone who could write a combination roast and tribute that totally rhymed. I finally chose a service that sounded good and was inexpensive, considering that this would be totally custom-written for me. I was told it would be delivered to me by email and then I could have it framed, presented as a scroll, whatever I wanted.

Being the unreasonable woman that I am, I asked for it to be delivered in two weeks. Can you imagine? A whole life story in verse, written in two weeks. Well, I was told that it would be no problem. This was getting good! The best part was that I could decide exactly how much to spend. They charged a certain amount per stanza and I could decide, based on that, exactly how many stanzas I thought it would take to do the occasion justice.

Goodness, the price was totally reasonable. I couldn't have bought him a nice gift for less. So I went for it. I went on the website, copied and pasted all the information I already had written out and stored in my notepad document. Then I went to the shopping cart and charged the proper amount and that was it! I was assured that my credit card wouldn't actually be charged until I was totally happy with the poem and they would make any changes I wanted, free of charge!

I tried to forget about it for the next two weeks and kept busy doing last minute things for the party, which was going to be a big surprise. I have to admit to being just a wee bit nervous, wondering if the custom-written tribute would be delivered on time. I had been assured that it would be, but we all know how that can go.

So the two weeks flew by and suddenly I checked my email and there it was! I printed it out, went to Starbucks and sat down with a delicious large latte. Then I began to read and wow! I was totally blown away! It was clever. Funny. Sentimental. Mentioned everyone and everything I had asked for. All woven into a totally made to order poem. It was completely original and would not apply to another human being on the planet. And the rhyming was perfect! The writer was a genius!

Finally the night of the party came. I was an excited, nervous wreck. Would my beloved guy secretly know about the surprise party? Or would he be disappointed when he saw a crowd there, wishing it had been just the two of us celebrating? Even though everyone I had invited meant the world to him?

Well, I needn't have worried. We walked into the restaurant and when he saw what was happening he beamed from ear to ear! We had drinks and appetizers and at the appropriate moment I got up and toasted him. Then I said I had something to read to him. I just had it printed on a few pieces of paper, stapled together. I figured we could deal with preserving it another time.

The room got totally quiet. You could have heard a pin drop. Luckily I had rehearsed reading it aloud as I wanted to do a good job. When I got through reading everyone broke into applause. My guy came up to hug me and thank me and he couldn't even speak because of the tears running down his face. When he finally got hold of himself he said it was the best present he'd ever gotten and he would cherish it for the rest of his life.

That custom-written tribute set the tone for the rest of the evening. We had dinner and everyon was in a wonderful mood. I had not only mentioned him but his loved ones as well, who were all there. Of course I m

art was that I could decide exactly how much to spend. They charged a certain amount per stanza and I could decide, based on that, exactly how many stanzas I thought it would take to do the occasion justice.

Goodness, the price was totally reasonable. I couldn't have bought him a nice gift for less. So I went for it. I went on the website, copied and pasted all the information I already had written out and stored in my notepad document. Then I went to the shopping cart and charged the proper amount and that was it! I was assured that my credit card wouldn't actually be charged until I was totally happy with the poem and they would make any changes I wanted, free of charge!

I tried to forget about it for the next two weeks and kept busy doing last minute things for the party, which was going to be a big surprise. I have to admit to being just a wee bit nervous, wondering if the custom-written tribute would be delivered on time. I had been assured that it would be, but we all know how that can go.

So the two weeks flew by and suddenly I checked my email and there it was! I printed it out, went to Starbucks and sat down with a delicious large latte. Then I began to read and wow! I was totally blown away! It was clever. Funny. Sentimental. Mentioned everyone and everything I had asked for. All woven into a totally made to order poem. It was completely original and would not apply to another human being on the planet. And the rhyming was perfect! The writer was a genius!

Finally the night of the party came. I was an excited, nervous wreck. Would my beloved guy secretly know about the surprise party? Or would he be disappointed when he saw a crowd there, wishing it had been just the two of us celebrating? Even though everyone I had invited meant the world to him?

Well, I needn't have worried. We walked into the restaurant and when he saw what was happening he beamed from ear to ear! We had drinks and appetizers and at the appropriate moment I got up and toasted him. Then I said I had something to read to him. I just had it printed on a few pieces of paper, stapled together. I figured we could deal with preserving it another time.

The room got totally quiet. You could have heard a pin drop. Luckily I had rehearsed reading it aloud as I wanted to do a good job. When I got through reading everyone broke into applause. My guy came up to hug me and thank me and he couldn't even speak because of the tears running down his face. When he finally got hold of himself he said it was the best present he'd ever gotten and he would cherish it for the rest of his life.

That custom-written tribute set the tone for the rest of the evening. We had dinner and everyon was in a wonderful mood. I had not only mentioned him but his loved ones as well, who were all there. Of course I m

had been assured that it would be, but we all know how that can go.

So the two weeks flew by and suddenly I checked my email and there it was! I printed it out, went to Starbucks and sat down with a delicious large latte. Then I began to read and wow! I was totally blown away! It was clever. Funny. Sentimental. Mentioned everyone and everything I had asked for. All woven into a totally made to order poem. It was completely original and would not apply to another human being on the planet. And the rhyming was perfect! The writer was a genius!

Finally the night of the party came. I was an excited, nervous wreck. Would my beloved guy secretly know about the surprise party? Or would he be disappointed when he saw a crowd there, wishing it had been just the two of us celebrating? Even though everyone I had invited meant the world to him?

Well, I needn't have worried. We walked into the restaurant and when he saw what was happening he beamed from ear to ear! We had drinks and appetizers and at the appropriate moment I got up and toasted him. Then I said I had something to read to him. I just had it printed on a few pieces of paper, stapled together. I figured we could deal with preserving it another time.

The room got totally quiet. You could have heard a pin drop. Luckily I had rehearsed reading it aloud as I wanted to do a good job. When I got through reading everyone broke into applause. My guy came up to hug me and thank me and he couldn't even speak because of the tears running down his face. When he finally got hold of himself he said it was the best present he'd ever gotten and he would cherish it for the rest of his life.

That custom-written tribute set the tone for the rest of the evening. We had dinner and everyon was in a wonderful mood. I had not only mentioned him but his loved ones as well, who were all there. Of course I m

as happening he beamed from ear to ear! We had drinks and appetizers and at the appropriate moment I got up and toasted him. Then I said I had something to read to him. I just had it printed on a few pieces of paper, stapled together. I figured we could deal with preserving it another time.

The room got totally quiet. You could have heard a pin drop. Luckily I had rehearsed reading it aloud as I wanted to do a good job. When I got through reading everyone broke into applause. My guy came up to hug me and thank me and he couldn't even speak because of the tears running down his face. When he finally got hold of himself he said it was the best present he'd ever gotten and he would cherish it for the rest of his life.

That custom-written tribute set the tone for the rest of the evening. We had dinner and everyon was in a wonderful mood. I had not only mentioned him but his loved ones as well, who were all there. Of course I mentioned his dad, who was sadly no longer with us. Everyone felt important that night, and most of all, my guy. I truly gave him the gift of a lifetime.