Readers reminisce: My most romantic gift
By Erin Peterson • Bankrate.com

Romance is much like beauty -- it exists in the human mind.

What makes a romantic gift? Whatever pushes the romance button in the mind of the recipient. To bestow a gift truly romantic on any one person requires knowledge and understanding -- an intellectual and spiritual connection.

Some consider red roses and a candlelight dinner the height of romance, others think the idea is a cliché.

The truth of all this was underlined when Bankrate asked readers to tell us what they considered the most romantic gift they had ever received. Here's a sampling of the responses:

Lullabies of love
My husband wrote a song for me. He writes and performs R&B and hip-hop music. He wrote a song for me called "Mainsqueeze." He also wrote me a song called "True Love."

-- Jaime Wills

Gem of an idea
The most romantic gift I ever received wasn't a Valentine's Day gift; it was a wedding gift from my then-fiancé, Keith, given in advance of our Dec. 9, 2005 wedding.

On Thanksgiving Day we had Keith's mother and my parents to dinner in our home. Keith's 6-year-old daughter, Chloe, was also with us for visitation. Keith knew I'd taken a shine to a beautiful sapphire and diamond necklace at the store where we'd purchased our wedding rings. I'd returned to the store a short time later saddened to learn the necklace had been sold. Unbeknownst to me, he'd bought me the necklace as a wedding gift and chose Thanksgiving Day to present it to me, in front of our families.

After dinner, Keith had Chloe hand me a beautiful silver gift bag tied with a silver ribbon. Inside was a lovely box that held the necklace I'd admired so many months before. He said he chose Thanksgiving Day to present it because he was thankful for my presence in his life.

I was so pleased to wear this lovely necklace on our wedding day, but Keith is the greatest gift.

-- Lori Lamb

Desert flowers
My boyfriend was a soldier in the U.S. Air Force and had been sent to Saudi Arabia. He ended up being gone about 7 months. He wired flowers to me. This was an extreme surprise as it was expensive and he was in danger but still thinking about me.

-- Maria Foster

Pass the guacamole
It really wasn't a gift, but the first time I met my husband, we were at mutual friend's home and the guys went out for snacks. My husband brought back every kind of chip and dip there was, to make sure that I had what I wanted, and that by far was the sweetest thing.

Needless to say we've been married for over 15 years.

-- anonymous

Love perseveres
I was a waitress in a truck stop. He was a truck driver.

He was 56, and I was 48. He came in a lot and drank more coffee than any man I ever met.