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Then I thought, maybe his lovely bride, Jetsun, would like some Wheaton paraphernalia as well. And being 21, the same age as a lot of our students, I thought perhaps a Wheaton t-shirt. How about this? I asked Jim.
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Or these?
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The final decision was a nice woven Wheaton blanket. But then the next challenge: a card. Next time you're in a card store, browse through the wedding cards and imagine picking one out for the king of a tiny Himalayan country where people still dress in traditional garb and polygamy is acceptable. Would it be this?
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Or maybe this:
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You see the problem. I settled on...none of them, and instead wrote a note on an elegantly simple blank note card. It took all my energy to resist writing something fun or clever. He is, after all, a revered and benevolent king whose father basically made himself less important to Bhutan by creating a democratic government (still a work in progress). See? There's that whole Buddhist thing: less is more.
I hope he likes the blanket and perhaps enjoys explaining to his bride why it appeared among their gifts. "Aaahh," Jigme will say, remembering himself as a lad of 18. "Norton, Massachusetts. I remember the Honey Dew Donuts shop".
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