What I've Learned

1. When he tells me a little something he and his counselor talked about in one of his sessions, I've learned he trusts me.

2. When I'm all bouncy first thing in the morning, talking a mile a minute, running all over the house trying to find where I left my backpack, I've learned his patience with me is calming.

3. When I come in from a run or after playing basketball and he runs his hands over the sweat on my skin, I've learned it's possible to feel sexy even when looking my worse.

4. When I do something with him I hate, like clothes shopping, and he seems to not only tolerate but enjoy my annoying habit of whining, I've learned what it means to be understood.

5. When we walk together on the way to class and he reaches over and holds my hand the entire way, I've learned what it feels like to be the only two people on campus.

6. When he told me he had been thinking about what our life might be like when we celebrate our 50th anniversary together, I learned that my usual worries and insecurities about the future are so very small.

7. When he told me he wanted me to be the person "in charge" of getting his restaurant built after he gets his chef career established, I learned he sees my work as more than just a way to make money.

8. When he calls me at work and asks me out on a date, I've learned I still get butterflies in my stomach.

9. When he cries his eyes out after some friends of ours had to put their cat to sleep, he lets me hold him tight, rock him, not saying a word, and I've learned maybe I am his rock.

10. When I get home first and he comes walking in the door, he never thinks I'm being a softie when I get teary just seeing his pretty smiling face. That's when I learn again, every single day, how very much in love I am.