Agnes chopped off her waist-length hair to buy her husband Jim a Christmas present. In an exciting turn of events, Jim had planned something similar for her, but what began as a loving present for the beloved better halves turned out to be something hilarious.
Agnes and Jim were happily married for 60 years, even though God never blessed them with kids. In their younger days, the couple used to stay in Florida, where Jim worked as a school teacher, but a fire engulfed their home a few years after Jim retired, and they had to relocate to the countryside.
Life was difficult in the countryside, and all they had was a small farm to make ends meet, but Jim and Agnes were content as long as they had each other’s support.
With Christmas was around the corner, Agnes decided to surprise Jim with a present. The man had previously served in the army and received several medals for his valorous acts, but after retirement, all of his medals were just crumpled in one corner of his cupboard.
So Agnes decided to give him a beautiful glass box in which he could proudly display the awards he’d received and began saving money right away. But unfortunately, their farm yield wasn’t great that year, and they had to invest more than they saved; in fact, when Agnes took out her box and counted her savings, she discovered she only had $18 left.
She could have considered selling something and making money, but there wasn’t much in their tiny two-room house except for some old furniture and farm tools. So on Christmas morning, she decided to cut her hair for money. She’d discussed the matter with a friend who had suggested an online site where she could sell her hair.
Jim had always admired how beautiful his wife looked with her hair down, and Agnes adored her hair as well, but she was only thinking about Jim’s present when she decided to go ahead with the idea. And within a few hours, her lovely brown hair which hung close to her waist was cut to a short bob.
When Christmas Eve arrived, Agnes dressed up in a pretty gown, planned a lovely candlelight dinner for the two of them, and was ready to meet her husband, who was returning from town after buying their Christmas tree.
However, when Jim entered the house and saw her, he was frozen stiff. “Agnes!” he cried. “What happened to your hair?”
“Well, you know it had been a long time since I got a haircut, so I just thought of getting one done,” Agnes admitted shyly, hiding the reason behind it. “How do you like it, by the way?”
“But honey! You had such pretty hair. Now the gift no longer makes sense!” Jim moaned.
Wait, how did he find out about the gift? Did he follow me while I went to get my hair cut? Agnes was perplexed.
“What now?” Jim came in and interrupted her. “Why are you staring at me like that?”
“Nothing, honey, I was just wondering how you already knew about the gift. I mean, I never mentioned it.”
Jim gave her a puzzled look. “What do you mean by that? I was talking about this,” he said, handing her the gift he meant.
“Oh, you got me a present, too? That’s lovely, honey! Thank you!” Agnes was overjoyed. “By the way, I have a present for you too. Do you mind if we open our gifts together?”
“Sure, what’s the point in it anyway!” Jim grumbled because he knew his gift for Agnes wouldn’t make sense now. However, as he unwrapped the gift he’d received from his wife, his face fell even further.
Agnes’ reaction was no better at the present she received, and her face, which had been beaming with happiness thinking about her beloved husband’s surprise gift, now had a look of dejection on it. “OMG! I had no idea I’d be getting this!”
“And I didn’t either!” Jim exclaimed as he held the gorgeous glass case in his hand.
Ironically, Agnes received a set of gorgeous silver hairpins from her beloved husband even though she didn’t have much hair left on her head to comb. She also learned that Jim sold his medals to afford the clips, so her gift to Jim was useless now too.
As they both shared their stories about how they planned each others’ gifts, they couldn’t stop laughing. “Oh my God! We should’ve simply asked each other what we wanted. I’ll never plan surprises again!” Agnes burst out laughing.
“Well, I don’t disagree! I thought you’d appreciate my gift, but I guess you’ll have to wait a while to use the clips. Anyway, as for my gift, I’m at a loss as to what to do with it now that I don’t have the medals anymore!”
“We’ll get it back, honey,” Agnes suggested. “We’ll return the hairpins. You loved those medals so much! And it was a sign of your bravery! Why did you even sell them in the first place?”
“But I wanted to give you something special and unique!” Jim stated. “Who knew it would turn out this way?”
“Well, whatever is done is done! First, let’s get your medals back.”
“Alright!” Jim gave a nod. “By the way, honey, I have something to tell you.”
“Yeah?”
“You asked if you looked good in that hairstyle earlier. I must say, you look stunning!”
“Oh, stop it,” Agnes said, blushing. “You’re always generous with your compliments! Now hurry up and change your clothes. The food is becoming cold.”
Agnes put some pleasant, soothing music on the old record player they had, and the couple had a lovely time together on Christmas Eve, laughing at how their surprises and reactions at the presents were very different from what they’d expected.