Not everyone has the best memory. If you wanted to make sure you remembered something, you might write it down.

Would it be wrong to write down things you wanted to remember about your spouse?

In this story, one man started taking notes about things his wife said she liked. He actually started taking these notes when they were dating, and years later, he is still taking notes.

The problem is that his wife recently found these notes and is pretty upset about it.

Let’s read the whole story.

AITA for having an Almanac?

A bit of backstory. I met my wife in the summer of 2008. She was working as the ice cream girl at a local restaurant.

I had gone to pick up some boxes because I was moving. Out walked my Sara…it was close to the end of her shift. And working in this particular restaurant was a…dirty job to say the least. (Seriously, I don’t care what DDD says, that place is gross.)

She was covered in sweat from cleaning the machines, caked in all the dirt from that nasty little kitchen, had a grease stain on her cheek…and she was freaking beautiful.

Her smile, her easy laugh, her obvious intelligence…I’m pretty sure I fell in love right then and there that wonderful May night. (inb4 “tHAts sO OlD faShIOned!!!” Don’t care. When you know, you know.)

He wanted to make sure he remembered things she said she liked.

I wasted no time in asking her out and we hit it off immediately.

It started after our first date. She had mentioned she loves lilacs.

Me, being a 23 year old guy at the time, didn’t know Jack about flowers. But the way she talked about how much she loved them I knew I didn’t want to forget that tidbit of information. So I wrote it down in one of those mini spiral notebooks. (Think what cops use to take notes.)

This was The Almanacs genesis.

He has written quite a few things down.

Over the years I’ve written down information about my wife. Her favorite color, her favorite restaurants, her favorite books, movies she wants to see, etc. Basically all the little things I knew I would forget. Anything that struck me as worthy of remembering when she told me.

I would go through it every once in a while so I could do something sweet for her.

Fast forward to yesterday morning. I get a call from her around 11am.

Uh-oh!

“What the heck is The Almanac?” (The Almanac is written on the cover. It’s just a silly name that occurred to me a few years ago.)

She obviously has it, and I don’t lie to my wife, so I tell her.

She gets really quiet for maybe half a minute and then says “I always thought you remembered this stuff…” tells me she has to run and hangs up.

I get home from work last night and she’s really dejected.

His wife was upset about the Almanac.

I asked her what’s wrong and she says the Almanac has cheapened every sweet thing I’ve ever done for her. She called it my “playbook” and said she felt betrayed.

Mind you I’ve never showed it to a single soul nor have I even told anyone about it. Until yesterday I was the only person in the world to know of it’s existence. (She also said she hasn’t decided if I can have it back or not, and that she’s thinking about destroying it.)

I’m kind of heart broken.

He really had good intentions.

I feel like this should be an example of how much I love her.

I’m terrified she’s going to burn it.

I WANT to remember all these details that make my wife who she is. That’s why I write them down.

I don’t chronicle these things for brownie points or status. I do it because I love my wife.

He was trying to be a good husband.

I hear so many wives complain that their husbands don’t remember anything, and I don’t want to be that guy.

So yeah, I took notes.

And now I’m getting the silent treatment. Or at best single word answers. AITA here?

Personally, I think more husbands should start an Almanac. It might save a lot of marriages. I can understand that his wife is upset, but what she needs to understand is that this was his way of remembering everything important that she told him so that he wouldn’t forget.

Let’s see how Reddit reacted to this situation.

This person doesn’t think he did anything wrong.

Another person can see both perspectives.

This person finds his notes sweet.

The OP wrote an update in the comments, and it seems that his wife has calmed down.

It is possible to be thoughtful even if you don’t have the best memory.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check this one out about a man who created a points system for his inheritance, and a family friend ends up getting almost all of it.