I have a large four-poster bed that was one of the first purchases I made after getting a full-time job after college.  I loved my bed but always wanted a "blanket chest" at the foot end of the bed to store extra quilts and blankets.  I wanted one made of oak, rather than cedar, which most chests are made of.  I couldn't ever find the exact one I had pictured in my head.    I would often point out styles to my boyfriend and even called him at home one night for him to turn on the television and see one I liked that was a prop on a tv show. 

 

Since we lived over an hour's drive apart, we didn't see a lot of each other one winter, but we did call each other  a lot.  One weekend he was going to drive in to see me.  I was at a birthday party for my young nephew in the morning and later would meet my boyfriend at my house when he arrived.  He called me at my sister's house and told me he had arrived early but that he was tired and was going to rest until I came home and not to rush.  After the party, I drove home and when I walked into my bedroom there was the oak blanket chest I had dreamed of with a large red ribbon around it.  He had taken a woodworking class at the local high school in order to make the blanket chest himself.  He actually drove around to different places to pick out the wood for the blanket chest.  He would pack up the pieces of the chest in his car and drive to the high school to use their tools to work on it.  After the class, he would take it back home to do more sanding and finish work. 

 

postscript:    Since we didn't get to see a lot of each other that winter I had started making a memory quilt for him at the same time he was working on the blanket chest.   He is now my husband and we have been married for over 13 years.  The blanket chest sits in our bedroom with his memory quilt tucked safely inside.