Sadly the box did not survive the journey intact. When he opened the package the box was broken into several pieces and the contents therein were hodge podge in the packaging.

The letter on top of the box was thankfully unscathed and I had him read it first, as it explained what exactly this dilapidated box was supposed to be. It doesn't look like much from the outside, but it was an I Love You Box. Within were one hundred and one tiny folded pieces of paper; each saying just as the name implies, reasons why I love him. I knew that sometimes us being apart is hard and that between now and June we will only see each other for a very short period of time. So until then he would have this box, and if he ever needed to be reminded that he is loved he could simply reach in and grab a piece of folded paper to remind him.

The slips of paper varied from saying things like, "I love your smile." to "I love that you aren't an ax murderer." All written in various shades of magic marker with the occasional stick figure or smiley face drawn on for emphasis.

Alex has since Saturday superlued the box back together, which makes my heart exceedingly happy. Not only because the box is fixed but also that he used "superglue" which is his secret code word for I love you. For some reason that makes the box even better. He's said over and over that this is the best present he's ever received, which leaves me to wonder how I'm going to top this next year.

Happy birthday, Alex. Elephant.