I tell a lot of stories on here about my frustration with Nathan's understatement when it comes to the emotional portion of our relationship. It's true that he's not particularly verbal in expressing his love, but I've gotten pretty good at recognizing the things he does that show how deeply he must love me.
Of course, there's the obvious: he married me. He's a man who dislikes being the center of attention (one of the reasons we work well together as I love attention) and is uncomfortable even watching a kissing scene in a movie, let alone being part of a public display affection. And yet he took part in a wedding ceremony filled with emotional moments, tears, and capped with a full on kiss in front of a photographer. And he didn't look tortured even once, not even during the extensive photograph session, which made him late to dinner.
Another incident that truly proved the depth of his love happened on a trip to the East Coast a few years ago. It was when the airports had recently instituted the no liquids policy, and I had bought some jam in Cape Cod. It didn't even cross my mind that the jam was a gel that couldn't get through security and of course they stopped me and told me that I could check the bag and come back through. Nathan was already through so he headed to the gate while I went back to check that stupid bag (I wasn't about to throw out that ridiculous jam; it cost me a whole $7).
For some reason, security took much longer the second time through, and I raced up just as they closed the door to the plane. I saw the pained look on Nathan's face as he watched and knew that he had been terribly tempted to leave me behind. But he hadn't, and he didn't say one word the rest of the very long day and night while all remaining flights of the day were delayed and/or cancelled due to storms (though he does bring it up rather often now that the incident is far in the past). We would have been home by 7PM, but with the missed flight and subsequent delays we didn't get home until 2AM. Now that is love.
And even more recently he caved and agreed to be a part of a couple's Halloween costume, which is usually one of his least favorite things. I suspect he was secretly somewhat excited about it because he's a big fan of Plants v. Zombies, but that's just a hunch.
So keep in mind that even as I'm giving him grief about his lack of sympathy and his dispassion, I know that he loves me, and I do (usually) notice the things he does that show it. I'm not letting him off the hook for the normal romantic stuff though. Perhaps he'll give in as we get older. I'm not counting on it because he is way more stubborn than I am.
Of course, there's the obvious: he married me. He's a man who dislikes being the center of attention (one of the reasons we work well together as I love attention) and is uncomfortable even watching a kissing scene in a movie, let alone being part of a public display affection. And yet he took part in a wedding ceremony filled with emotional moments, tears, and capped with a full on kiss in front of a photographer. And he didn't look tortured even once, not even during the extensive photograph session, which made him late to dinner.
Another incident that truly proved the depth of his love happened on a trip to the East Coast a few years ago. It was when the airports had recently instituted the no liquids policy, and I had bought some jam in Cape Cod. It didn't even cross my mind that the jam was a gel that couldn't get through security and of course they stopped me and told me that I could check the bag and come back through. Nathan was already through so he headed to the gate while I went back to check that stupid bag (I wasn't about to throw out that ridiculous jam; it cost me a whole $7).
For some reason, security took much longer the second time through, and I raced up just as they closed the door to the plane. I saw the pained look on Nathan's face as he watched and knew that he had been terribly tempted to leave me behind. But he hadn't, and he didn't say one word the rest of the very long day and night while all remaining flights of the day were delayed and/or cancelled due to storms (though he does bring it up rather often now that the incident is far in the past). We would have been home by 7PM, but with the missed flight and subsequent delays we didn't get home until 2AM. Now that is love.
And even more recently he caved and agreed to be a part of a couple's Halloween costume, which is usually one of his least favorite things. I suspect he was secretly somewhat excited about it because he's a big fan of Plants v. Zombies, but that's just a hunch.
So keep in mind that even as I'm giving him grief about his lack of sympathy and his dispassion, I know that he loves me, and I do (usually) notice the things he does that show it. I'm not letting him off the hook for the normal romantic stuff though. Perhaps he'll give in as we get older. I'm not counting on it because he is way more stubborn than I am.
Good looking guy.
ReplyDeleteThat's the tough thing to remember about guys, you can't always gauge their feelings by their words. You have to listen to their actions as those always speak the truth.
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