The night before Amy’s college graduation, Jordan went to work like an elf on Christmas eve. His supplies? Old-fashioned. Nothing fancy. Just white and yellow paper, scissors, glue, and four years of memories. He cut 30 strips of paper. Fifteen white, the bride’s classic color. Fifteen yellow, the color of friendship. On each one, he wrote high school and college memories from our last four years, our first four years. Then, he linked all thirty slips into a paper chain (reminiscent of childhood days) and brought it to Amy’s graduation ceremony the next day — which just happened to be 30 days before our wedding.
They’re our first real family heirlooms, and we wouldn’t trade them for all the jewels in the world.
If you’re looking for a free way to reconnect with someone you love, you just might need to open your supply closet, grab some paper and scissors, and create a memory chain of your own. Countdown something special, or maybe even nothing at all. Sometimes the best gifts are the ones that don’t cost a thing.
Want to catch up on The Pink Slip Files? You can read them all right here:
Intro: What Are the Pink Slip Files?
No. 1: Failing Pre-Marital Class & Otter DNA
No. 2: Sink or Swim
No. 3: Turning Off the Lights
No. 4: Leave a Message at the Tone
No. 5: Chocolates, Mystery Shows & Honeymooning
No. 6: Cutting Coupons & Wal-Mart Jeans
No. 7: Paper Chains of Memories
No. 8: Dancing on Bar Tops
No. 9: Man’s Best (Feline) Friend
No. 10: Confessions of a Waffle Fry
No. 11: What’s So Important About Shoelaces?
No. 12: Breaking Records… Like It’s 1924
No. 13: Why We’re Not as Classy as We Thought
No. 14: A Letter to My Only Starbucks Lover
No. 15: The Night We Killed Someone (Kind Of)
No. 16: Lord, It’s a Fire!
No. 17: 6 Words We Never Thought We’d Google
No. 18: How Jordan Convinced Amy… To Take Her Clothes Off. Every Time We Walk in the Door