LIVING THE ROMANCE

I love romance. I really do. But not the kind generated by the so-called “Hallmark Holiday's” where you find tons of manufactured sentiments on cheaply printed paper. I like the real stuff.

My husband was a straight “A” student all through college. You know… the really smart analytical kind. The sort of guy who spent most of his “spare time” studying in the library or working one of two jobs (three, four?) which paid his way through school. Save for his deep love for the clarinet and classical music, one would rarely find him far from the math and computer books that surrounded him on a daily basis. He was known to barter with his professors to avoid creative writing assignments (who in their right mind would willingly write a term paper vs. a short story?) and could (and would) debate you on the techno-babble beliefs of the day. He was a rational thinker and a doer and a giver…and always a gentleman.

Now, I am not so logical in my thoughts as that man of mine! Never was and never will be. I’m the creative half of the relationship and together we have long since found comfort in our diverse, yet accommodating marital roles. I’m louder, more outspoken and even sometimes hard-to-please. He on the other hand is more obliging, a more private a person, a kinder, gentler soul. And in thirty years of marriage I’ve only seen him really cry three times…

So, it was nothing short of un-predictable and certainly unexpected, when on my birthday last December he read aloud and in the presence of my family, a lengthy poem which he had penned celebrating my fifty years of life on this earth. Far too personal to make public, he spoke of his deep and lasting love for this “overly sentimental, mind-ever-changing, slightly hard-headed” gal of his. I was stunned…overcome…quiet even.

Not since the birth of our two children had I witnessed such tenderness, such romance. The offering, still so fresh that it’s sweetness will forever transcend the fabricated sentiments he's sent to me during our long and satisfying marriage…

Valentine's Day is three weeks away and I’m looking forward to some special time with my beloved. This year I’m going to skip the manufactured greeting and turn in the direction of home for my inspiration. I don’t need to look far to find a devoted example of the One who does ‘immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine’.

Blessings…Rebecca