[Z-man]

Ron,
While the folks posting here have some great suggestions, ultimately, the best anniversary gift will be the one you come up with by yourself. The suggestions here are great - but it's kinda like giving someone a hallmark card with a touching message on it - great message, but not very personal, even if you underline the important stuff and put smilies all over the card!

One of the most cherished gifts I ever gave Mrs. Z was a cuckcoo clock from the Black forest. She loves it as much today as she did 15 years ago when I gave it to her! Some of her fondest memories as a child was spending the summer at her Nana's house, where she had a collection of grandfather clocks and cuckoo clocks. So my gift struck a chord with her - because of her childhood, and because I paid attention to her when she was related stories of her childhood to me.

Do I suggest getting your wife a cuckcoo clock? I don't know your wife, but I doubt she has the same connection to that timepiece as my wife does. But what I do suggest is to reflect back on the past five years and figure out what has been important to her - and build your gift around that ideal.

Oh - this past week, we just celebrated 21 years of marriage. People we meet today still perceive us as newlyweds, because of the way we interact with each other... I am a lucky guy!

-Z-man.