Imagine this: It’s 1976 and you’re dating a man named Rick. He has a mustache and owns at least one reindeer sweater. High off of reading The Easter Parade and The Great Santini, he’s all pumped up to write the next great American novel but, to make ends meet, he’s currently working for Hallmark. He’s been really cagey about his latest project, only revealing that this will be the first time Hermann Zapf’s Crown font is used in a publication.
The fact is, things could be better between the two of you; he forgot your birthday… then your anniversary. Then there was that time he bit your head off on the car ride home for making fun of him during a game of Monopoly at a friend’s house.
Now, imagine it’s Valentine’s Day and you’re not expecting much – but Rick surprises you. It turns out that book he was working on – it’s all about you! And your relationship! Your eyes well up with tears of joy. Then, as you skim through, they become tears of something else. You discover that the book is full of lines like this: “Please don’t get mad at me if I forget your birthday or some special day we share.”
And this: “Please don’t expect me to always be good and kind and loving. There are times when I will be cold and thoughtless and hard to understand.”
And there’s even a photo depicting couples board game night paired with this text: “Please don’t… make me look foolish in front of other people.”
I spotted this amazing treasure at Spoonbill and Sugartown and, of course, I had to buy it right away. Aside from the prose, the photographs are priceless – but even more priceless are the hand written annotations and underlined passages in my copy, beseeching the reader to re-read certain lines. It’s out of print (as you might have imagined) but, as your faithful friend, I’ve digitally preserved this amazing book; every magical page can be viewed after the jump.
Ashleigh
8:45 am on
July 2, 2009
Wow, this is a show-stopper!
Jim
11:03 am on
July 4, 2009
It’s an amazing relationship strategy: by letting her point out that he’s forgotten her birthday and anniversary and accusing him of insensitivity, he turns the fight around and re-frames it by patiently explaining that all their days are special, which implies that she’s the insensitive one who cares less about their relationship.
Danny
2:25 pm on
July 6, 2009
Only an insensitive clod remembers birthdays and anniversaries. It’s the forgetting that shows the depth of your love.
Ashleigh
9:50 am on
July 7, 2009
You know what else? Crown is actually kind of an awkward typeface. Way to go Zapf!
bill
9:47 pm on
July 8, 2009
i can’t believe i actually read this piece of… well, you know
tabs
8:04 am on
July 9, 2009
There is a particular irony when it is a HALLMARK product points out that adhering to the social mores of remembering special days should be abhorrent.
Lisa
2:59 pm on
July 9, 2009
Love it!
thegnu
7:26 pm on
July 9, 2009
seriously, though, forgetting a birthday is not a big deal. i’ve forgotten my own birthday. pretty much any reason to be resentful of someone you’ve decided to live with for the rest of your life is pretty pointless.
Tanya Elliot
7:55 pm on
July 9, 2009
Sweaters like that are few and far between. Just like the dickhead who is weaing it.
Keven
7:58 pm on
July 9, 2009
Thank u for making it all the reasons I love my wife Jen
www.ediedson.com
8:23 pm on
July 9, 2009
Muito Bom!
Para comprar Obras de arte do artista Edi Edson clique no site
Bob Gum
9:39 pm on
July 9, 2009
I wish I would have said all of this to my wife of 46 years before she died 3 months ago. It would have made her passing a lot easier for me. I miss her terribly every day.
Mike
10:12 pm on
July 9, 2009
I fail to understand why so many of you think this guy is a douche. He’s being honest about what we ALL are. None of us is perfect all the time. We will not remember EVERY single date. We will not always be peachy and kind. We ALL have our moment and this guy is just trying to say that even though he’s human, he will always love her. How do you dummies NOT see that?
Bob Fry
11:22 pm on
July 9, 2009
Hey, I wanna buy slacks and a vest like Rick has…
Jay
12:11 am on
July 10, 2009
Well done for the seventies. Clothes were a bit weird then, but hey in thirty years, our style will look just as shabby. This is a nice thing to share with a loved one. It sums up how I feel about my wife.
Prakash Dodeja
1:11 am on
July 10, 2009
Excellent write up, simple but effective emotions and superb picture selection. Hats off
robb
5:09 am on
July 10, 2009
beautiful set of pics there.
70’s theme is always beautiful.
Peter
9:06 am on
July 10, 2009
My advice is that, if you are in a relationship with this man, move on – as quickly as you can. He lives in a world which is there only to serve him. You might as well not exist. He is narcissistic, intoxicated with himself, and he is completely incapable of recognising your own individual existence.
Rida Khan
9:11 pm on
July 10, 2009
I can’t believe he sounds so much more like my husband. and I always knew that he loves me …………….:))- my hubby stumble it and showed to me….
i just loved it.
Tim
5:29 am on
July 11, 2009
Yes, it was the Seventies, and their clothes looked a bit weird, but at least they were able to keep their pants pulled up.
Sam Dz.
12:36 pm on
July 11, 2009
I can’t help but feel that some of those things can actually lead to an unhealthy relationship, such as the “dont make me look foolish in front of other people”… Wow, take a joke ya wimp!
Josie
10:40 pm on
July 11, 2009
I think that this is beautiful
Elena
10:45 pm on
July 11, 2009
Tim… you made me laugh out loud.
me
11:21 pm on
July 11, 2009
this was supposed to be funny! people…
Your Name
11:21 pm on
July 11, 2009
wow!! loved it…i think more couples need to see this, to remember its more about the day to day love than the big extravang things.
Jessie
12:05 am on
July 12, 2009
As a girl, I found this oddly touching and sweet. Especially when sent by my boyfriend — it says a lot, and explains a specific perspective on love. Like trying to find the good in love, rather than all that’s imperfect. “Please don’t ever give me too much of yourself or take too much of me. In our togetherness we still need our private places.” — also applicable to many relationships, I think. Sweet enough book to overlook the 70s vibe.
stewart
1:13 am on
July 12, 2009
The Stepford woman is the woman for me.
anon
1:23 am on
July 12, 2009
this reminds me of how I should see my own relationship too =D thanks for posting this. =D
Stephen
1:48 am on
July 12, 2009
This guy is the centre of his universe.
Paula
5:06 am on
July 12, 2009
this was awe inspirting..but hey don’t forget my b’day and anniversary.
Cody
5:10 am on
July 12, 2009
I think this stuff is good. I would change a couple of phrases as I don’t see some things the way he sees it, but in overall it’s just can be a great gift for your beloved one (just make another set of pictures of me and her
) That’s what I’m going to do 
Pingbackaww .. « One red bowl and silver spoons
8:38 am on
July 12, 2009
[...] aww .. Posted by oneredbowl under Uncategorized | Tags: links | Leave a Comment Found this when I was [...]
Linda
1:10 pm on
July 12, 2009
Perhaps today is not the day I should comment on this, but here I am. I think this sappy little book portrays the attitude of a person who is simply taking advantage of the emotions and kindness of the other person. I agree with what Peter wrote, “if you are in a relationship with this man, move on – as quickly as you can. He lives in a world which is there only to serve him.” What surprises me is that so many who commented here LIKED the book. Well, to each his own. “There will be times when I will be cold and thoughtless and hard to understand…” but deal with it lady, we can enjoy another nice day in the park tomorrow — but don’t for a minute think I intend to do this forever. Um… yeah. Enjoy your strange relationship.
eClaironess
2:17 pm on
July 12, 2009
Someone who does not remember special days may think that no day is special as well.
While I don’t want someone to promises me forever–promises, promises, as we know promises can be broken–, I want someone who can do forever, and with that in mind, some of the tips in the book are on target, particularly about sharing and growth.
Ginger
3:10 pm on
July 12, 2009
I’m with Peter on this one… I turned down a guy who could “only promise today.”
Truly, life with this generous man would be about receiving. Receiving all the normal blessings of life and love… “stringing together” the days on lines of cliches… until maybe ten years had passed. Crows feet, perhaps a kid or two, and at least ten extra pounds from annual ice cream binges coinciding with ones not-so-special anniversaries and birthdays. And then, someday, to receive herpes after he decided to give yesterday to some local hussy.
Life is really all about the superficial feelings of love. I mean, commitment is hard – let’s just stick to reveling in our sartorial awesomeness.
The joke is on him though. That ’stache won’t be so lush and dark forever! Mwah-ha-ha!
Martin Lewis
4:29 pm on
July 12, 2009
Please turn this into a 3 hour film epic.
Jimbo
6:19 pm on
July 12, 2009
It’s seems obvious that he’s an only son or come from a broken family…
Who said that only the “Y” generation is spoilt and uncaring.
These are the guys you see on the park bench as they age.
Lonely and miserable…
Neil
8:29 pm on
July 12, 2009
Wow, you guys bashing the boyfriend-writer-guy are in a pathetic state of self-denial. You seem to think that you’re some kind of hot **** to be able to dump on this guy for having the stones to be honest. Or maybe you’re so emotionally and intellectually simple that you only exist in one state at all times and are incapable of complex thought, feeling, or action.
This guy obviously cared enough about his girl to put his weaknesses out there for anyone to see. It takes a lot to stick your neck out there like that.
Not that you ***holes are capable of understanding that.
Mike
8:59 pm on
July 12, 2009
Anyone who is writing something bad about this book is clearly not reading it correctly. He is not trying to be a jerk. He is simply saying that just because I am human and make mistakes, please don’t hold it against me. He even says that he wants to be told off if he is out of line. This is a book about how a relationship should work. Everyone has a bad day and takes it out on the wrong person from time to time but just because I make a flip comment on accident does not mean it should end the relationship. This is the point that the talking about the problem and fixing it comes into play. Jeez people…stop being so cynical.
Thomo
9:12 pm on
July 12, 2009
Please don’t judge the author for what he has to say. He only wrote this book for today and can’t promise that he will still agree with it all tomorrow! In Australia we had a similar ad for Cougar Bourbon. Similar looking guy with similar sentiments. Here’s the youtube link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9STuU0iqe4&feature=PlayList&p=646367D5D2A324A8&index=1
-K-
1:31 am on
July 13, 2009
although reading “i can only promise today” makes me afraid of losing my bf to another… deeper down I feel I shouldn’t cling so tightly just because we’re a couple.
I want to change. I’m sick of being obsessive and clingy. and jealous.
i will force myself to accept fate, and try to make it good.
Jonck
4:13 pm on
July 13, 2009
I think that people automatically try to find all the negative in something. Nothing anyone has ever written will be perfect. Take what good you can from it and ignore what you don’t think works. When he says that there are day when he will be cold and hard to understand keep in mind that there may be days when she will be the same way. The same way with his view on giving and taking applies to him taking and giving in relation to her.
To those who try to find the negative in this… Life can be long or short but you should always try to look on the bright side because happiness is what we all strive to find in life. If you live your life however long or short it may be, looking at the negative side of everything you’ll probably regret it in the end.
Ricky
5:50 pm on
July 13, 2009
This could be so so true but thir will alway’s be something to,————.,
Pingbackwhen hallmark moments fail… « Caterpillar
9:12 pm on
July 13, 2009
[...] a Comment thanks to david precht’s ever informative twitter feed, today i encountered this blast from hallmark [...]
Gavy baby
9:29 pm on
July 13, 2009
I honestly believe this is written by Ron Burgundy
Little Timmy
10:05 pm on
July 13, 2009
so special I’m gonna puke
vince in tokyo
10:22 pm on
July 13, 2009
This was a “design” book of the times people! It was designed and set by Zapf! Unfortunately, as a result my esteem of the beloved type-master may have gone down a notch or two although I expect he didn’t write it . . . what a way to promote a typeface . . .
The 70’s were such a weird time . . .
AdmiralJesus
10:34 pm on
July 13, 2009
I’m sure she knows Bob Gum, and i’m sorry
sue cyr
10:42 pm on
July 13, 2009
I always remember an anniversary. men need some help though, so I thought that the next time I get married it will be on a holiday like Christmas when everyone has the day off and they remember,
Lisa
11:07 pm on
July 13, 2009
I found this really cute. He wrote her something that wasn’t a cookie cutter valentine’s day cliché, but something true and honest about the realistic workings of a relationship. He’s telling her that we’re all human and will have our off days, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t love her.
and he’s saying that instead of focusing on the bigger picture all the time to focus on the actual picture – here and now. Just focus on loving every day you have together for what it is instead of worrying about what it will be.
Everyone who is looking at this negatively is missing the beauty it was intended to be.
Jimbob
11:10 am on
July 14, 2009
If I forgot my wedding anniversary I’d be in trouble. Luckily it just happens to be on my birthday. I can’t help but think my wife engineered it that way.
Scarlett_156
2:37 pm on
July 14, 2009
Not to pass personal judgment on the (really strange) guy that produced this–I totally agree that this represents quite a find! It reminds me of some of the stuff I ran across during the five years I worked for the Public Library system in Denver. There are so many vanity press type books that end up in people’s collections, most of them are pretty awful as far as writing and, you know, the philosophy expressed in them and stuff, but they are usually really interesting–even the simply awful ones–because this is someone we obviously don’t notice much or think much about in our day-to-day lives if we know him or know someone like him. To be able to see what goes on in the head of a person like this, and what he considers to be a great romantic present for his lady friend–possibly a make-up type of gift for forgetting her birthday or whatever–that’s pretty cool. New favorite website!
Jim
2:58 pm on
July 14, 2009
Thanks, Scarlett_156!
I can’t imagine the kind of obscure one-offs you came across deep in the heart of the Denver public library system! It’s mind-watering just to consider it…
We’re all so psyched you like the site and — should you ever forget an SO’s b-day — just remember to ask yourself one question: WWRD, What Would Rick Do?
Tracy
4:33 pm on
July 14, 2009
OK, so, first of all, the set-up for this story is just that – a set-up! (Right, you guys?) There is no author credited; Rick was the photographer! Hallmark used to have scores of these books on the market, penned by anonymous employees of theirs, aimed at appealing to every corporately imaginable customer. They’re each and all a load of crap, until YOU personally buy one or recieve it as a gift. Now, personally, I would never direct such sentiment toward anyone with whom I meant to have a 1:1 intimate relationship. It’s all about what the relationship isn’t and will never be… “please don’t, don’t, don’t” … very polite, very negative… and if I recieved it, I’d be taking Peter’s advice… and if I weren’t finished with that kind of relationship, having completely given up on meeting a man who thinks like Peter, I’d be asking for his phone number… =)
Fet
4:37 pm on
July 14, 2009
What the f***?
RJF
7:10 pm on
July 14, 2009
A wonderful shrine to mediocrity, solipsism and freeloading. Makes me shudder to think that people actually believed that it was their perogative to tell their wives what to think feel and do in the marriage. I guess the lack of bedroom activity was made up for by all the mindf***ing. I find the images and sentiments, gruesome reminders of the 70’s. May they never return.
AMF
8:33 pm on
July 14, 2009
Bleh! Mixed feelings about this >_<
SOOPI
9:14 pm on
July 14, 2009
I agree with Peter (July 10). That 60’s attitude about what women may or may not think is insulting today. I wonder how most of you would react if it was a woman who wrote that horse shit.
fred
1:06 am on
July 15, 2009
I was waiting for the joke about getting some anal
Kim
2:55 am on
July 15, 2009
July 9th 7;55pm 2009. Tanya Elliot I like your style.
Faeryn
3:30 am on
July 15, 2009
This one’s heading straight to Divorce Court. This poor dumb bastard is about to make all the wrong moves and she’s going to dump his ass by May of ‘77 and live on food-stamps until October of ‘82 working 3 jobs under the table and raising their bastard son, who feels so abandoned he becomes a monster of some kind.
Hallmark sucks.
No one should speak for another human, or be so unaccountable that they can’t sustain a relationship that’s truthful with them selves, let alone a mate.
Bad times.
G0utham
8:53 am on
July 15, 2009
well …. Thats awesome man… The words are really great
maxim
3:16 pm on
July 15, 2009
for some reason I though it was a woman let her man know how to love.
maxim
3:19 pm on
July 15, 2009
it should be a chick saying this to her man.
maxim
3:20 pm on
July 15, 2009
it’s a woman that chooses her man not the other way around
kmuzu
4:46 pm on
July 15, 2009
This book has changed my life. I am now a complete man … with a mustache
Dave
8:23 pm on
July 15, 2009
This is something Frank Zappa would have done to bad music.
DM
8:28 pm on
July 15, 2009
I think I taste some vomit.
Hugh Askew
8:47 pm on
July 15, 2009
Most probubbly the mostest awesome thing ever, ever, written. Except Charlottes Web, of course. And maybe that one with the guy that was sick all the time and then he died, except he really wasn’t dead, just only confused. I liked that one a lot.
Do we get new books here everyday? Do some of them have plots and hyperbole and rhymes? Those ones are good to have. They should write one about how Mikael Jackson an Amy Whinehouse got married in secret and now she is carrying his babies – because most likely she will have triplets at least. That would be the most fun!
Lauren
7:40 am on
July 16, 2009
I can’t tell if you are trying to sarcastically point out the highlights of this book or if you are being serious.
This book is terrible. It is basically just listing a bunch of excuses in “romantic” ways.
PingbackHoo Boy… «
8:05 am on
July 16, 2009
[...] the nice writer at Rotating Corpse scanned her whole copy up. You can see it here It’s absolutely [...]
Sam Golden
9:28 am on
July 16, 2009
wow crazy, not sure if you can say ‘don’t be mad at me for forgetting your birthday’ though hahaha
sweta khandelwal
9:42 am on
July 16, 2009
Evebody has the right to depict one’s thought…But one’s shldnt take anybody for granted..How are a wrong approach
towards life is acceptable..You will remain alone and the person in yur life will never forgive herself for loving you..Imagine loving smobody becomes a mistake in life..Is the
life becomes worth..think over it
Brooke
9:44 am on
July 16, 2009
I was waiting for the punch line and distracted by the dudes wardrobe! My God man!
Ross Bead
9:45 am on
July 16, 2009
I think the seemingly sincere comments after the book on this page are the funniest little things, not that I love the points on hypocrisy any less… always remember that… we all need to grow if we are to hold each other?s love… remember that… and, please, when you’re posting comments, don’t ever think about someone else…
…
…
Sarah B
12:02 pm on
July 16, 2009
It was all good and fluffylike until I read the bits about how “ok” it should be to forget your lovers BIRTHDAY/ANNIVERSARY and how his love can’t be promised forever. Kinda spoiled all the other cute anecdotes.
Mustache toting Tosser.
Ktulu
12:51 pm on
July 16, 2009
eClaironess said “Someone who does not remember special days may think that no day is special as well.”
…these people are called Jahova’s Witnesses.
Sgt. Friday
9:52 pm on
July 16, 2009
Why are you so certain it’s written from the guy’s point of view?
blueelm
9:53 pm on
July 16, 2009
wow. A hypocritical narcissist. I really love how he manages to tell her not to worry about anyone coming between them while also telling her not to think about anyone else. If I ever received an instruction manual to a man’s “ideal relationship” I would run like hell. I hope this woman shared each of her tomorrows with less of a douchebag… like a string of perfect pearls.
Love is leaf-like, etc.
However, it is an awesome collection of sweaters.
blastercast
10:30 pm on
July 16, 2009
I think the “please don’t make me look foolish in front of other people,” sounds more like a woman than a man. If a man says that, it seems kind of asshole-ish, if it’s an acceptable tone to his girl it’s cuz she lets him push her around / be an asshole to her. A woman, however, can say that to a man because it’s usually the man who has to work to get pussy.
me
10:55 pm on
July 16, 2009
I really liked it, maybe because I’m a girl, but I shed a tear.
Bob
10:56 pm on
July 16, 2009
I think someone gave me this book back in 197something. It was the beginning of the end, believe me.
jazz
11:29 pm on
July 16, 2009
Rubbish! Women know this already. They dump you because you persistently refuse to change but you want them to change. Dont do this, dont do that, do this, do that but i love you. Come on, give her a break!
Troy
12:24 am on
July 17, 2009
Listen, I am a 51 year old married man, and I am sitting at my computer at 1:21am having just read what many would call drivel and I call it perfect, and I am crying. I only wish I could be this forward, this truthful with my wife…
Casazhou
2:52 am on
July 17, 2009
Hey, i love it so much.
I’m waiting for someone who ganna to practice is with me!
Anne
10:46 am on
July 17, 2009
If you’re having to tell some one not to value what they do and not to feel what they do then they are not the right person for you and you should just recognize that.
If you get married to some one who values anniversaries it is unfair of YOU to expect them to stop doing so because you don’t. I think the weight falls on the person who cares less. I married a man who deeply values these things and I can’t imagine telling him not to care because it’s not such a big deal to me. Instead I ask him to remind me because I’m forgetful of the dates, but I’m happy to make time for them because they’re important to him. It’s called compromise.
The guy in this book is an asshat.
PingbackThe Greatest Gift… : Absolutely True
2:55 pm on
July 17, 2009
[...] saw this Hallmark publication over at Rotating Corpse. They seemed to have a sarcastic attitude about the book, but I think it’s just too much [...]
Grismar
6:56 am on
July 19, 2009
Two things: It seems to me this could have been one of a pair, this one being the “Him to Her”. Of course, it could just be that emancipation hadn’t quite reached this publisher…
Secondly, this type of publication serves to split any crowd in two: one half that ridicules it and thinks themselves better than the people it concerns. And on the other: people who have actually been in a relationship for more than a few years. Who recognize that thousands of years of civilization have done little to change our basic lives and that, whenever someone writes about it, it’s still all the same.
Tiesha
2:41 pm on
July 19, 2009
Ok so I totally agree with just about everything in this book but I also feel that if it fell into the wrong hands it would just be a good scapegoat for a guy to get away with things he knows he shouldn’t. I’m not asking a guy to promise me he will always be there but I am asking that he tries his best to do all he can to be there forever and not only that but to want to. I agree that no one is perfect and things will be forgotten and things will be down wrong but its about the effort. I think the author of this put forth the effort by putting this in print and sharing his feeling with his SO but again given to the wrong person it could just be an excuse.
PingbackOh, the Thinks You Can Think » Blog Archive » 20 July - Which? What? Who?
3:27 am on
July 20, 2009
[...] handbook to 1970s love Please Don’t Promise Me Forever at Rotating Corpse is my stumbleupon favourite this week. The [...]
sianz
10:59 pm on
July 20, 2009
How many of you people who said negative of this are actually (really) happily married?
maren
8:53 am on
July 21, 2009
wonder if in the day specialness he’s doing the dishes, picking up his own laundry and putting the seat down?
This free-loving guy seems to be laying down his expectations but I don’t remember him saying anything about what she had a right to expect of him? And I might add, the she doesn’t seem to be any specific female but whoever the generic female of the moment happens to be.
Jessie
10:09 am on
July 22, 2009
Nice link Thomo!
Alex
3:06 pm on
July 23, 2009
I missed my wife Meriels birthday once, I didn’t forget, I got the days mixed up, I’m bad with dates and time, I’m not bad about loving her though!
” Please don’t promise me” Says it all for me, I don’t love my beautiful life partner Meriel in the past or in memories or on anniversaries, I think about her all the time, every hour every day, in an hour from now I’ll think about her and know that I love her but I might miss a special date, she’s good at dates I’m not.
When you really love somebdy you accept all the stuff that comes with loving somebody, and accept that both of you will screw up and both of you will feel great making up! Well done Rick! Sorry for the less romantic of you!
cookie
11:10 pm on
July 24, 2009
For those who are sad because you feel like you’re not so good to your significant other, u can always change. ur in control of urself. aren’t u?
it’s good to be able to appreciate written goodies like these and take what you can from it. it’s also not a bad thing to criticize things that you disagree with. it lets you stay true to yourself and be who you are.
ikku
9:24 am on
July 25, 2009
f**k !!
people r even bothering to comment on this s**t?
hack
10:08 am on
July 27, 2009
holy crap he’s got a lot requirements. just roll with it dude. typical corvette owner…
lookatitthisway
12:19 pm on
July 28, 2009
Dad chews Son out because the Son got one B on his report card. The rest were A’s.
“That one B is going to affect your chances to college!” says the Dad. “You need to try harder! Don’t think you’re not going to college! If you have other plans, you might as well get out of this house right now!”
Poor Son, he has a lot of Expectations to hold up too. Ironically, he desired to go to college in the beginning but now, he’s not so sure. The end.
Girlfriend says to Boyfriend….
If you have been in a long term relationship, I’m sure you can fill out the rest of the story.
Murchadh
4:44 pm on
July 28, 2009
Seriously, to everyone here who commented; what makes you all so sure it’s the guys sentiments we’re reading. It IS written from the womans perspective. Had to read the drivel again after reading some of the comments just to be sure I hadn’t missed something. Even the guy with the orange marker realised that!
Wonder what those who consider this guy an asshole would think if it was the girls musings they were reading – and they are. Look at the picture of the dude with the glass (of whatever they drank back then, a nice ‘69 I guess) and then read the page again.
It’s the girls sentiments and thankfully I’ve never dated anyone so twee! Hallmark drivel by the way, and I’m surprised at myself for feeling the need to comment. And,,, the seventies weren’t that bad considering the eighties.
My two cents anyway!
faith
8:30 am on
August 1, 2009
l enjoy reading this was awesome
shellybear
8:32 am on
August 1, 2009
this is both to my partner and from my partner and I feel privaliged to have you share it with us both.
screamish
12:07 pm on
August 2, 2009
this deserves a frownsmile
matraiea
9:15 pm on
August 4, 2009
Haha, I found this book in my parent’s basement years ago… I thought it was ridiculously hokey then, and it’s hella funny now that I’ve found it on the internet
Makes me pleased that I have a tangible copy somewhere
Stefan(ie?)
1:50 am on
August 6, 2009
What makes you all so certain this was written by a man?
Anonymous
2:46 am on
August 9, 2009
What the **** is wrong with some of you people? Just how emotionally stunted are you? Stop thinking that a relationship without flowers and rainbows and Sunday picnics isn’t worth having.
Everyone is going to screw up in a relationship. The only difference is that this nifty little book’s (supposed) author admits it.
What’s so wrong with saying, “I’m gonna mess up, but just know that I have the best of intentions,”?
Grow up.
Anonymous
2:51 am on
August 9, 2009
Although I’d admit the Monopoly page is a little strange.
alli
10:31 pm on
August 10, 2009
I need this book.
So I looked for it.
Some used bookstores online sell it for up to $1000
Thought you should know.
Freed
11:06 pm on
August 17, 2009
aka Mr. ‘Stache
coyotemon
9:44 am on
August 19, 2009
This makes me feel lucky. My GF does not need this card. She lives it. Man I’m llucky!!
Andy
7:34 pm on
August 19, 2009
You left out the Forward by Ron Burgundy
PingbackFunny Friday: Please Don’t Promise Me Forever « Onely: Single and Happy
7:15 am on
August 21, 2009
[...] intallment of our new Funny Friday series. Today we are looking at a 1976 Hallmark booklet, “Please Don’t Promise Me Forever“. The Rotating Corpse discovered and posted this gem, which explains how to have a happy [...]
ankur
12:56 am on
August 23, 2009
very well written
Amy Danielson
12:33 am on
August 24, 2009
This is so incredibly codependent and twisted! It made me laugh my ass off, though. Thanks for showing it! And for those of you who think it’s ‘beautiful’ in some other way than just being amazingly funny and abnormal, I feel so sorry for you. Therapy?
Shyla Harcourt
7:42 am on
August 24, 2009
It hurts me to see how cynical people have become. You women who claim he is self centered and narcissistic probably haven’t had a good relationship in years. Nobody likes to be humiliated in public, especially by loved ones. I forgot my mothers birthday….does that make me a horrible and uncaring daughter? No….I was in school in another province and busy. I called her as soon as I remembered. This is the first time I have ever seen something so touching and truthful coming from a man. Hell….it’s the way I love my boyfriend. One day at a time with hope for more tomorrows.
Jeepers
10:30 am on
August 24, 2009
We’d been married over 10 years when my husband asked me what color my eyes were. That stung more than forgetting any date ever could.
Alex
7:28 pm on
August 24, 2009
I feel like roundhouse kicking whoever wrote this shit. I don’t give a f**k whether it is a man or a woman, they have a huge stick lodged up their ass.
old married woman
9:22 pm on
August 28, 2009
I think that if you don’t like the sentiments expressed here, you’re probably an unrealistic sentimentalist who is doomed to a long string of “unsuccessful” relationships. It may not be what you want to hear, but its reality, and if you want to stay in love for a long time, everything in there was excellent advice.
em
4:57 pm on
August 30, 2009
If you think that receiving a long list of demands and expectations without any comments that indicate compromise on the speaker’s party’s part is “normal” then I am sorry. You are probably married to a narcissist or are one yourself.
Jou Baur
12:48 am on
September 9, 2009
If I argue with you, no-one will be able to tell which of us is really the fool.
I abstain, thank you.
ZACH
10:32 am on
September 10, 2009
Chill out! Slow down and think for a minute.
I like it.
Good day
10:49 am on
September 10, 2009
So you people who hate this book what do you say when you are in a bad mood and you loved one notices? Probably nothing you just make them wonder what is wrong and if its something they did. Right? Instead of what this person when he said it will be the weather or the flu, not because I love you less. He/she is not trying to be mean just making sure the loved one knows that there will be days when the sun doesn’t shine so bright.
Caillach
12:50 pm on
September 12, 2009
I wonder how many people who didn’t find this cute or loving or at least a little bit true are in unhappy relationships or no relationship at all… Personal experiences and states of mind tend to affect how you read things…
To me this highlights the fact that in a relationship, no matter how close you are, you are still two different people and you aren’t always going to be perfectly aligned but that you want it understood that despite moments of imperfect alignments the closeness isn’t any less… in fact it may just be more…isn’t being with the whole person the point of being in a good relationship… rather than changing or expecting someone to change themselves to fit you?
The way I read it this is from either person’s and both persepctives at the same time… if you can both offer all of this to each other chances are you are going to be overall happy… again if not for all time then for the time you do get together.
And to those fixating on the “don’t make me look foolish/argument” line… you read it differently than I did… how many of you in a relationship enjoy fighting in front of other people? How many of you (females think hard here) haven’t asked your partner at some point to stop doing something that embarasses you… but wouldn’t have a problem with them doing it in private? Some things are personal… what that line says to me is let’s keep our disagreements between us, and keep some things private…. (really awkward explanation… but it might say what I was trying to make it say.)
Just Me
2:47 am on
September 13, 2009
One thing that isn’t being mentioned, the seventies were very different from the 2000’s.
If you stumble a lot you might run across a gem from the sixties; it’s a guidebook for the perfect wife.
A few of it’s points: keep the house spotless, keep the kids quiet, freshen your makeup and always be pretty when he comes home, if he’s late never question him, have dinner waiting and take off his shoes and rub his feet, because he is the man. Plus it states, always remember your place.
Those times were male centered and people have come a long way, (to use an old cliche).
As for this book,I see it as an attempt to be sweet, but it comes off as self-centered be it from a guy or a gal. I could see it as romantic and as a guide to live for him, I choose romantic.
Caze
3:28 pm on
September 20, 2009
Saw this, thought it was great and rang true with a lot of my feelings, not 100%, but a lot.
sent it to my girlfriend and she said it made her realise a lot. two hours later and I come here and read the comments again..
I guess I’m just lucky certain people exist who don’t resent this, and I am with one of them.
PingbackAdventures in the Art of Extrapolation
12:39 am on
September 24, 2009
[...] This is a bit like the last post, but involves a peer-to-peer relationship, instead of a maternal one. Makes me feel sappy and romantic:) [...]
Pingbackinside my head
11:48 am on
September 25, 2009
[...] Here are some fun links…. [...]
Nancy
4:41 pm on
September 26, 2009
I like Rick’s way of thinking! I find it honest.
sudip
2:42 am on
September 30, 2009
do u want urs wife be like that if so ok nither there are things to compormise by both
Lettersalad
10:37 am on
October 6, 2009
Oh, it was the man who wrote it?
All the time I thought it was the woman.
Salad
Nottingham's 'Mr Sex'
8:08 pm on
October 7, 2009
Where’s the missing page that reads “I f*cked them…but I make LOVE to you”?
Ariana
9:48 am on
October 10, 2009
You know…this may very well be one of the best books in the entire world.
PingbackLori Sizemore » Don’t Promise Me Tomorrow–or 1978
1:59 am on
October 16, 2009
[...] Please Don’t Promise Me Forever [...]
astro
11:23 pm on
November 2, 2009
wow.my world did stop in reading this.
Someone Who was there
10:23 pm on
November 16, 2009
It was a space in time when insensitive men tried to wax sensitive. He just published it.
Lexi!
2:59 pm on
November 27, 2009
There are thousands of poems, epics, songs and tales about love.
Love! Love! Love!
But who knows how to make love stay?
We praise it’s beauty and wonder, treating it as a blessing and miracle..
I see it as both wonderful, and disturbing. almost cruel.
All of us too quick to preach on what love is, how a relationship works. Get off your pedestal. Everyone has been heartbroken at some point. Everyone has made that one mistake, or realized one day they’re love was gone, without rhyme or reason.
No, I dont think anniversaries, dates, birthdays should influence “how much you love someone”
Nothing should except for that person. That’s what our epics and poems are about. How stupidly blind love is. How it makes you do bat-sh** crazy things.
It ignites the passionate fool in all of us.
Love keeps us in the dark on how it works, because otherwise it would be too easy. where would the passion come from? where would the thoughtfulness of a moment start?
How do you make love stay? I have absolutely no clue.
But to all of you who condemn this author for his book, saying it’s a cover for insensitivity…
Congratulations for buying into what society defines as love. Congratulations on being sheep. Think for yourselves! Find it for yourselves! Don’t go along with what society deems as “love”. That’s an insult to love’s essence. Since when has any of the “true lovers” in literature followed society? Romeo and Juliet anyone?
Anniversaries, birthdays, special dates makes me obligated to give you a gift. Obligation? Ha thats not love.How about on some idle Tuesday for no reason at all, I’ll surprise my lover just because I was think of them. Money doesn’t buy love, we all know this. whether you’ll admit it or not.
and Finally who said you had to read the above book? Maybe that is what love is to him.
BIll
1:06 am on
December 1, 2009
This may be the gayest thing I’ve ever seen
Admiral Naismith
10:47 am on
December 9, 2009
It would have been much better if they’d used that font that looks like it was written in blood.
Drew
4:01 pm on
December 24, 2009
I think this might have been the most simplest yet powerful expression of love I’ve ever seen. So many times love gets put in an idealistic sense where too much is expected, but this just felt incredibly real, something I can really relate to
danielle
7:41 am on
December 25, 2009
i. loved. this.
kellie
9:56 pm on
December 29, 2009
id really love to find where i can buy this book, can anyone help me out?
Harold
7:39 pm on
January 3, 2010
If this man were made of chocolate, he’d lick himself to death.
ANDY
6:38 pm on
January 13, 2010
ITS JUST ONE PERSONS PERPECTIVE ON RELATIONSHIPS.
ITS AN OPINION. WITH AN OPINION YOU CANT BE WRONG. THE TRICK IS TO FIND SOMEONE THAT FEELS THE SAME WAY.
Jeff Jinxman
10:29 pm on
January 20, 2010
Every person who thinks this person is horribly selfish, terrible, a douchebag, or anything like that…
You’re what, 12? Or you’re trapped in a bizarre fantasy world.
Other than the ‘don’t make me look foolish’ thing, which is kinda… i’m not sure why it’s there, this is amazing. Touching, honest, beautiful… Seriously, get over yourselves and your 12 year old notions of love and relationships.
I would be willing to bet that almost any loving couple in this world, if they’ve been together for say, 20+ years, would read this and find it absolutely beautiful.