Hm.

Now, I’ve been single a long time. But immediately my mind leaped backwards, over two boyfriends and into a time when I pondered the same thing about my husband. And before I could stop it, out of my mouth came, “Used books and lead figurines.”

Lord, what a memory.

Once upon a time, before Amazon, before eBay, there was only one way to collect your favorite author’s backlist: used book stores. And I spent many an hour searching dusty, cluttered storefronts, prowling through unorganized stacks of books, looking for old editions from Piers Anthony, Roger Zelazny, Michael Moorcock, Philip K. Dick, and dozens of other authors.

My ex and I read a lot of science fiction, but on top of that, he was a gamer, and discovered a pastime that helped him relax…and made me nuts. He painted 25mm lead figurines for his role playing games. Preferably from Ral Partha, a high-quality company started in 1975 by a 16-year-old sculptor and 5 gaming buddies. Some of his prized favorites were the complex, expensive dragons.

So the best gifts wound up being acid-yellowed books and lead dragons. Not easy to find, and it made finding a store like South Bend’s The Griffon akin to digging up treasure in your backyard.

The point?

“Follow his interests, and do something special,” I told her. “Forget the card and buy him a lead dragon.”

Yeah, ok, she looked at me a little funny at that last part.

She did get that Valentine’s Day isn’t really about chocolate hearts and Hallmark cards. It’s about paying attention.