Experiences are the best gifts

If you're familiar with the "Languages of Love" books or concepts you know the premise: different people have different "love languages" to which they respond. I am definitely in the experiences camp, and for my 50th birthday, Alicia gave me a great experience:

We spent about 75 minutes at the home of the last living artist from the "Rocky and Bullwinkle Show".

Gerard Baldwin was the art director of the Jay Ward Studios, is the brother-in-law of a friend, and lives about 5 minutes from our house. Alicia, the kids and I arrived at his home about 6 pm and were met by Gerard at the door, offering us a glass of wine. So we sipped wine and looked around his home at various works of art as he shared stories about the shows on which he worked and the people who worked with him.

And best of all, Mr. Baldwin offered us a framed original work to be donated to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation for the annual Gala Fund-raiser's silent auction. The work to be done will have a minimum value of $500 .

Tomorrow night we will be hosting 18 for dinner in the lovely Houston townhome of Bev Mitchell, our dear friend. And I am advised that there are still a few surprises in the works. But our visit with Gerard Baldwin was an experience I will not soon forget.