What's an appropriate 26 Year anniversary gift? in The Big, Blue House, year one.

On a limited budget, (say $200 or less), for a man who neither needs nor wants anything?

I have some time, October 26th is the day.

I generally get him rings, gargoyles, and steaks. That and Roman memorabilia are all he likes, to my knowledge. Last year was our 25th, so I tried to get something symbolic, and bought him a deer skull with an ornate pentagram carved into it. We met at The Real Witches’ Ball in Columbus in 1996, so witchy stuff is appropriate. He got me a nice sterling necklace, with a raven holding a little pentacle.

The longer we live, the more years we accumulate, the more important the anniversary seems to become. I always want to do something “special”, but with limited funds, and a partner who seems to genuinely enjoy very little, it’s tough.

I can barely cook, thanks to parents who thought I was too incompetent to bother teaching. They thought I’d just hurt myself. So everything I know about food preparation I’ve learned from my ex-husband, and my old job in a kitchen. So making him a nice meal is out.

He doesn’t enjoy going out, and neither do I. We have a nice house. It’s quiet. A big TV. All of our food delivered. So going out to a movie or a restaurant would just be stressful and less fun than staying home.

Yet the idea of giving him yet another mediocre gift seems somehow underwhelming.

He generally buys me something the same value and theme as whatever I get him. I have to tell him vaguely what my plans are, to keep it fair.

I could get a bunch of led candles and a couple fake potted trees and make a picnic in the presently unoccupied master bedroom? Maybe some beer, and order Doordash? Put a blanket on the floor, and try to be humorous about it? Well it would be different at least, right? Maybe a star projector for the ceiling. Or maybe that’s just the autistic tendency to act like I’m twelve, and it’s a terrible idea.

We have a projector. I could aim it at a wall with some corny message celebrating how long we’ve tolerated each other. There’s a 26” old crt TV in there, I could get his favorite movies.

Thanks, internet void. Yelling into the abyss has been helpful. Wish me luck.