Valentine's Day is not a big deal for us. In fact, it wasn't even this year. Ron went to an event with a buddy most of the day. I stayed home, did laundry, enjoyed quiet time, took Tanner for a walk, etc. What? Not spend Valentine's Day together?
Well, he was home for a couple hours. I gave him a card and some Hershey kiss roses that were sold as a Haiti fund-raiser at work. He started a fire in our fireplace and we just finished watching a movie together. Now he is off again to another buddy's house...something about snowmobiles.
This post is not actually about Valentine's Day. It is about my loving husband who surprises me with things all the time. You remember the "Just Because Day" post. Well, here is one more example of other times that Ron does stuff "just because."
The sculpture you see was another of Ron's inspired garage creations. He doesn't plan stuff out. Like an artist, he creates when inspired. The sculpture is made from three gears and a hollow metal ball. He surprised me with it a few weeks ago.
Of course, I had to add my feminine touch to it. I noticed the ball had a hole in one end...hmmm...a vase? Definitely! Worked in with some other accessories, it is a mix of space-age and traditional materials.
The point of this post is not to focus on gifts themselves. It is to share the meaning of the gifts and the deep, respectful love they represent. The gear sculpture cost nothing. It was made with scrap pieces from the garage. The thing is...I love it, because it was created and/or given to me with one intention...to express my husband's love for me.
There are many other expressions of love. I remember reading "The Five Love Languages" many years ago. It's helped me to see that people give and show love differently. With that understanding, I could list hundreds of ways my husband expresses how much he loves me on daily basis. Besides saying "I love you" and giving gifts, even mundane things, such as lawn mowing, snow shoveling, and vehicle maintenance, are expressions of love. I know that when I do things around the house, I am also telling him that I love him, too.
Now, I am many things, but a relationship doctor or love expert is not one of them. Many people wonder how Ron and I can be so different yet stay together. He is an extrovert who loves engines and being always on the go. I am an introvert (believe it or not) who loves silent sports (no engines) and having quiet time. I am the thinker, he is the doer. The opposites thing works for us. What counts is that we share important core values, mutual respect, and an ever-deepening love for one another. Everything else works itself out.
So, today I know that I am loved. I know I married a wonderful man who knows how to love me. In that, I am content.
