This is love. It looks different as we age.
Long gone are the days of flowers and wondering if he might ask you out on a date. Long gone are the new couple jitters, the butterflies swirling inside wondering if he might kiss you.
Those days are long gone, but the butterflies are still there all these years later.
Love looks different these days. It’s seeing the way he looks at our daughters, cuddling together on the couch. It’s checking on you at 3am when you’re nursing the baby, then joining you on the couch to catch up on life in the wee hours of the night.
This is love. It’s taking your child to dance so you can get an extra hour of sleep. It’s folding laundry and doing chores, while telling you to go “relax”. It’s watching him teach your daughter how to ride a bike, and showing your children why you should never give up when life is challenging. It’s sprawling out on the floor playing board games with our kids.
Love doesn’t come easily. It’s putting up with pregnancy hormones, a short temper, or maybe it’s “that time of the month”. Love is telling you that you’re right, even though you clearly are not. It’s comforting you when you’re having a bad day, even if that day includes taking out your temper on him.
Love changes over time. It’s picking up your favorite ice cream for no reason other than “just because”. It’s filling up your gas tank so you don’t have to in the bitter cold. It’s leaving a note on the coffee maker just to say “I love you”.
Love is skipping the big football game to spend quality time with the family.
Love looks very different than I imagined so many years ago. Back then we were care free, with no children, no mortgage, and few responsibilities. But watching us now, I’d take this life any day over our past. Sure, young love was amazing—it got us to where we are all these years later. But the little things and the mundane parts of life are what I love the most. It’s the small gestures, the quick glances at each other, and the family cuddles on the couch that show me how lucky I am in life.
This is love…and I wouldn’t change a thing.
so adorable and blessing sweet