One stay-at-home dad decided to do something extra special for his wife this year after she was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. (Stephanie Arnet Facebook)
When it comes to Valentine’s Day, most husbands choose to go the traditional route — chocolates, flowers, maybe some jewelry, a sappy greeting card.
But not Tyler Arnet.
The stay-at-home dad decided to do something extra special for his wife this year after she was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.
Armed with a pair of boxer briefs, some flour and a Christopher Walken pillow, Arnet managed to come up with the perfect way to cheer up the missus: a “dudeoir” photoshoot.
“I needed to do something to help her out, to make her feel good,” Arnet explained.
“She’s been very stressed out and I knew she’d find [the pictures] hilarious,” he told The Post.
Arnet, who is currently living in Vancouver, Washington, arranged to take the steamy shots after spotting a local photographer’s Facebook ad.
Arnet, who is currently living in Vancouver, Washington, arranged to take the steamy shots after spotting a local photographer’s Facebook ad. (Stephanie Arnet Facebook)
He surprised his wife, Stephanie, with a photo spread on Feb. 9 — right before she went into surgery.
“He showed them to me about an hour before I went in,” Stephanie recalled. “He was like, ‘I got something to show you.’ When I saw [the pics}, I died laughing. It definitely wasn’t anything I was expecting.”
Sporting a sultry-but-chic look, Arnet, 28, took dozens of pics for the “dudeoir” shoot with photographer Jill Steenson, of Lillian Lane Photography.
He can be seen posing in front of a fireplace, on a kitchen counter-top and with the Walken pillow — which is positioned oh-so-perfectly.
“While we were in [Steenson’s] living room, in front of fireplace I just so happened to see the pillow and my exact words were, ‘Is that a Christopher Walken pillow?'” Arnet remembered. “I asked if we could use it, and she said, ‘absolutely.'”
Describing his modeling skills, Arnet said: “I didn’t want to be funny, I wanted to be fierce.”
“[Steenson] and [her husband] kept telling me, ‘You’re magnificent! You’re beautiful!'” he told The Post.
“I was definitely in the zone. There was nothing stopping me. At one point I straight up said, ‘Watch out, Tyra Banks — I’m coming.'”
Once Stephanie got the pics, she asked Arnet if she could post some to Facebook, and he happily obliged.
“He’s never been the type to care,” she said. “And I mean, we’re just two regular people. We get maybe 20 likes apiece, at most. So I didn’t expect it to go viral or anything.”
Within the first 10 minutes, Stephanie received more than 100 shares.
Sporting a sultry-but-chic look, Arnet, 28, took dozens of pics for the “dudeoir” shoot with photographer Jill Steenson, of Lillian Lane Photography. (Stephanie Arnet Facebook)
“Now we’re at more than 45,000,” she said Tuesday.
Hundreds of Facebook users have reached out and commented on the “dudeoir” photos, with many applauding Tyler for his bravery and eyeopening show of support following Stephanie’s cancer diagnosis.
“So many people have been reaching out, not just because of the pics, but because of why he took them,” Stephanie said, noting how it’s “brought laughter back into their lives.”
“I had one lady reach out whose husband was diagnosed recently with a stage 4 illness, and he rarely smiles and laughs,” the 30-year-old explained. “She said they haven’t stopped laughing. So, we’ve really been enjoying the positivity it’s bringing.”
The photos have also helped Stephanie stay positive, as well.
“To be a mother of three and an Army vet — deployed to Afghanistan — who did all this stuff, and then to find out you have cancer, was tough,” Arnet said.
Stephanie got her cancer diagnosis back in November after paying a visit to an optometrist.
“I walked into the Optometry clinic due to vision issues in my right eye, and walked out having been told I have a very rare form of cancer called Ocular Melanoma,” she wrote on Facebook at the time. “This type of cancer is only diagnosed to an average of 2,000 people a year, and is so rare in fact, that there are only about 10 doctors who specialize in its treatment.”
The Army recruiter praised her husband for his support in recent months, saying: “He’s really the best.”
“Good luck to anyone who tries to top him,” she said of his Valentine’s Day gift.
Arnett added, “Hopefully my wife doesn’t ever forget this.”
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