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Elegant meal makes memorable Valentine’s Day

Craig and Cathy Holmes, left, dined at Costo on Valentine's Day. Their close friends, John and Carolyn Underhill, came along. Cathy and Carolyn brought atmosphere to the warehouse by adding a tablecloth, china, silverware and an iPod equipped with speakers and a romantic playlist. (Courtesy of Craig Holmes / The Spokesman-Review)
Craig Holmes Special to Voice
Craig and Cathy Holmes, left, dined at Costo on Valentine's Day. Their close friends, John and Carolyn Underhill, came along. Cathy and Carolyn brought atmosphere to the warehouse by adding a tablecloth, china, silverware and an iPod equipped with speakers and a romantic playlist. (Courtesy of Craig Holmes / The Spokesman-Review)

Cathy, my favorite and lovely wife, decided she wanted to remember something we have done on Valentine’s Day. We will be married for 30 years this summer, and they sort of blend together. (Do you remember what you did for Valentine’s Day, say three years ago?)

My wife’s idea was for us to spend our 30th Valentine’s Day dinning at Costco.

During the week, Cathy mentioned this to our pastor, John Underhill, who basically lost it laughing. When he gathered himself, he asked if he and his lovely wife, Carolyn Underhill, could join us. My wife thought that would add to the fun.

Cathy and Carolyn set to the task of making sure we “dined” in style. You will notice (in the photo) the tablecloth, china, good silverware, goblets, flowers, etc. Cathy even brought her iPod with tiny speakers so we could hear romantic music.

This whole thing worked out better than we had planned. Costco’s manager came up to our table and thanked us for coming. She had a camera with her and took some pictures and asked if we would sign a release so they can put them in their Costco magazine. Later on the staff approached us with two 8-by-10 framed photographs.

John and I were into this dinner already about $3.20 or so. (Polish sausage and diet drink). Even with that great expense we decided to open up the wallet and go another $1.55 to split an ice cream sundae with our spouses.

I have to tell you in 30 years we have never gotten such good service and so much attention, nor had such a lovely evening for 10 times the cost. I haven’t laughed this hard in a long time. Thank you, Costco.

I think you can see why we will happily be celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary this summer. It’s been a wonderful adventure. Maybe to celebrate I will take her to Dick’s Drive In.