I got my husband his dream watch for our 10th anniversary.
All he got me was cheap perfume in a plastic bottle.
I was so angry, I tossed it aside and never used it.

This was our last celebration because he died unexpectedly 3 weeks later.

Today, I was cleaning and the bottle fell.

I froze. Inside, he was hiding…

…a small, neatly folded note, wedged between the plastic casing and the glass vial. My fingers tremble as I pick it up. The paper is worn and yellowed around the edges, as if it’s been waiting for me all this time. My heart pounds in my chest as I unfold it.

His handwriting. That unmistakable slant, the way he loops his “y” like a little hook at the end.

“If you’re reading this, it means I messed up the gift part. Again.
But I hope you’ll understand why I had to do it this way.”

I drop to the floor, the note shaking in my hands. I blink hard, as if that might erase the tears gathering in my eyes.

“I couldn’t afford the necklace you liked, not after getting the watch. But I found someone who helped me make a plan. That bottle? It’s not what you think.”

I frown, staring at the bottle lying on the floor. I pick it up, examining it more closely now. There’s nothing extraordinary about it—just a plastic shell with tacky floral stickers. But when I unscrew the cap and bring it to my nose, it hits me.

It’s not cheap perfume.

It’s our perfume. The one we used to share on our trips, the one we’d spray on our pillows in hotel rooms so they’d feel like home. It hasn’t been manufactured in years. He must’ve gone through so much trouble to recreate it.

I clutch the bottle to my chest. A sound escapes me—half sob, half laugh.

But there’s more to the note.

“The real gift isn’t in the bottle. I had it custom-made with a hollow inside. There’s something beneath the spray compartment. Unscrew it.”

My hands work faster than my brain. I twist the bottom of the bottle, and it comes loose with a faint click. Something metal glints inside. I turn it upside down, and a delicate gold chain falls into my palm, with a tiny pendant shaped like a compass.

Engraved on the back are the words:

“Wherever you go, I’ll find you.”

I burst into tears. Not the silent kind—the raw, gut-wrenching kind that rips through your whole body. All this time, I thought he didn’t care. I thought he dismissed me on our anniversary. And yet, he left me something priceless.

I press the pendant to my lips. The compass needle trembles slightly, like it’s alive, like it knows how lost I’ve felt.

Suddenly, I remember the drawer where he used to keep his old journal. I leap up and run to the bedroom, yanking it open. I never looked inside after he passed, afraid of what I might find. But now I need to know everything.

Inside are pages filled with messy ink, scrawled thoughts, lists, and reminders. I flip through until I see a header: “ANNIVERSARY PLAN – OPERATION: MAKE HER CRY (in a good way).”

He has bullet points.
— Get the watch ✔
— Recreate the Paris perfume ✔
— Hide the necklace ✔
— Write the note ✔
— Tell her I love her without saying it ✔

And then, at the bottom:

“She deserves magic. Even if I can’t give it to her forever.”

My heart cracks again. I wipe my tears with the sleeve of his old flannel shirt that I still wear. I clutch the journal to my chest and sit back on the bed, the compass warm in my hand.

I thought the watch was the big gesture. But this? This was the heart of it all. A love letter hidden in layers, waiting to be discovered long after he was gone.

I lie back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. The grief isn’t gone, but it shifts. It softens. I’m still surrounded by absence, but now there’s something else. Presence.

That night, I spray the perfume onto my wrist and sleep with the compass around my neck.

In the morning, I wake up to sunlight streaming through the window. I feel different. Not healed, but held. I pour coffee into his mug like I always used to, whispering, “You sneaky, romantic idiot.”

Later, I call his sister. “Did you know about the perfume?”

She gasps. “He made me promise not to tell you. Said it had to be a surprise. Oh my God, you found it?”

I laugh through tears. “I did.”

She pauses. “He loved you so much, you know.”

“I’m starting to believe it again.”

After we hang up, I open the note one more time. On the back, something is written in faint pencil. Almost missed it.

“P.S. There’s one more surprise. Follow the compass.”

My eyebrows shoot up. I hold it flat. The needle trembles, then points… east? I step outside into the chilly fall morning, barefoot, hair messy, still in pajamas. The neighbors will think I’ve lost my mind.

But I follow it.

Down the front porch. Across the lawn. Past the rose bush he planted on our second anniversary. Toward the shed.

The compass needle swings wildly as I approach, like it’s excited. I unlock the shed and push the door open. At first glance, it’s just tools and shelves and old holiday lights.

Then I see it.

A wooden box with a ribbon, sitting neatly in the center of the workbench. I walk over slowly, breath held. My name is written in Sharpie on top.

Inside is a stack of letters. One for each month.

“In case I’m not around to tell you myself.”

The first envelope is labeled: Start with this one.

My hands shake as I open it.

“Hey, love. If you’re reading this, it means I didn’t make it. And yeah, that sucks. I probably left something stupid on the counter or didn’t finish the laundry—sorry about that. But this letter? This is the important part.”

“You’re stronger than you think. You’ve always been the one holding us together. I might’ve been the clown with the big gestures, but you? You’re the quiet fire. The reason I smiled every day.”

“Every month, I want you to read one of these. Not all at once. Promise me. Let them guide you, like I would’ve. And when you feel lost, hold that compass. I’ll always be there.”

I sit on the stool in the shed for what feels like hours, rereading his words. The birds chirp outside, the wind rustles the leaves, and for the first time since he died, I feel like I’m not alone in the silence.

The next day, I start going through the garage. Fixing things he never got around to. Putting up the shelf he meant to finish. The motions are slow, but they’re healing.

Each morning, I wear the necklace. The scent of the perfume clings softly to my wrist. And once a month, I open a new letter.

Some are funny—reminding me where he hid snacks from the kids.
Some are tender—recounting memories I’d nearly forgotten.
And some are just him, raw and real, reminding me to live.

By the time I reach the sixth letter, it says:

“You’ve made it halfway. I bet you thought you’d fall apart. But look at you. I knew you’d make it. Keep going, love. Life’s still waiting for you.”

So I do.

I start volunteering at the animal shelter, the one we used to pass and say we’d go to “someday.”
I book a trip to Paris, not because I’m ready, but because I want to spray the perfume where it was born.
I plant tulips in the front yard, his favorite flower even if he never admitted it.

People start to smile at me differently. Not the pitiful smile they gave at the funeral. But a warm one. Like they see something in me that’s shining again.

On the anniversary of his passing, I wear the necklace and spray the perfume one last time from that bottle. The letters are finished now. I’ve read them all. Each one folded back with care, placed back in the wooden box.

I sit on the porch with a glass of wine and whisper, “I kept my promise. I lived.”

And in that moment, I swear, a breeze wraps around me like an embrace. The wind chimes sing softly. The compass around my neck spins once, then stills.

I don’t need it to point anymore. I know where I’m going now.

Because love like that doesn’t end.

It just changes shape.

And I carry it with me—everywhere.