Thank you

When friends or acquaintances would ask how long my wife and I had been married I would often joke about it feeling like an entire lifetime. This wasn’t ever meant to convey any sort of bad feelings or regret or resentment. Instead it was my little way of letting my wife know that the things I used to get from her seemed so far in the past that they may as well have been an entire lifetime ago. The feeling of admiration, the supportive qualities that a spouse bestows on her mate, the care and concern for a partner’s wellbeing.

I have often believed when a person worries about another, it always comes from a position of care. The person over whom worry is expressed has value as a human being. Being significant enough to be worried about is in my view, a wonderful conveyance of love. And as I have said before, love is the opening of one’s self as the basis of aiding in the spiritual growth of another. Not spiritual in the biblical or religious sense, but more in the context of the human spirit. Add to this the recognition of the little things. Like how I hate strawberries, or how I worry about my friends, or how I value certain mores, or the placement of my collection of shoes in my bedroom, or that I blush easily. Deeper still, there is the adoption of importance of the things that are important to me, simply because they ARE important to me. Together these things spell only one thing.

It’s been quite a while since my wife has worried about me. Or recognized the little things. Or found importance in things simply because they are important to me. And I have interpreted this as having been a long time since I’ve been viewed with a value worthy of being loved.

Until now.

Today it’s quite different. Today there is someone who worries if I’m eating… or eating right (anyone who knows me, knows that I have the nutritional habits of a six year old). She actually noticed that the collection of shoes in my room has shifted. If I am concerned about a close friend, she is genuinely concerned as well. Even though she has never met him. I posted an article not long ago where I expressed my loneliness when I wake up alone if I happen to have been sleeping in my bead instead of my couch. She even asks where I slept the night before. She puts her own troubles aside in the name of addressing mine. She likes that I blush easily. All this and more spells one thing to me.

She doesn’t have to say it… she doesn’t even have to acknowledge it. I feel it. And for that I am grateful. Grateful that someone, for whom I have the highest regard, finds value in me as a human being. I feel just a little taller, stronger, and more significant. And well… I just wanted to express my gratitude and simply say…

Thank you….