I know I might sound materialistic but I’m not. Please hear me out.

I was looking forward to our first anniversary; I prepared a box full of snacks for a movie night, wrote a letter and bought him anniversary gift. It wasn’t much, alright, he plays on PC a lot so I thought he’d like it if I buy something for his setup.

Came our anniversary day, I admit I was expecting a gift. I know he’s saving money because he wants to buy a new motorcycle, a new camera and other stuff… but really? It was our anniversary and he didn’t get me anything. I’m not asking for a million dollar gift, but come on… a snack, a flower, a letter or a gift from the dollar store would’ve made me happy.

We did go to a restaurant for dinner and he paid for it though it wasn’t planned. We just thought of eating out that same morning, just like we occasionally do on normal days. So it wasn’t like he planned it. And paying for food, I can do it myself.

My issue is, it was our first anniversary and he didn’t put an effort to do something. I feel sad because I was looking forward to it. I can’t even tell him this because saying “I wanted a gift” doesn’t feel right. It upsets me that this trivial thing makes me feel distant from him, but it’s more upsetting that this is, again, a trivial thing and he didn’t put effort to it.

I always buy him something like snacks that can only be bought from a certain store, pain reliever patches, you know nothing expensive.

I’m not saying I want him to pay me back for all the things I buy for him. But at this point, I thought he could see my effort and think he needs to reciprocate it.

Please tell me, is it okay to feel sad about not receiving a gift? Am I feeling emotional over nothing?