Twilight; or, why I love my husband

I just recently finished reading the Twilight novels by Stephenie Meyer. I enjoyed them overall. She definitely knows how to build suspense and tension and keep the reader engaged. There was one thing I was a little disappointed in, though; I’ll admit that part of why I was disappointed was because of all the hype built up around the books.

I’ve heard from so many different people about how “romantic” the books are; how “romantic” Edward Cullen is. To me, though, this was where the books were seriously lacking. There just didn’t seem to be that much time spent on why Bella and Edward love each other so much. From what we’re told it the books, it sounds like Edward initially loves Bella because she smells so darn good to him – granted, he does tell her later that doesn’t matter so much anymore. He loves her for who she is, but we never know what really he loves about her. It comes off sometimes sounding like he loves her simply because she is the only being in the world whose mind he can’t read – she’s the only woman who will always be a mystery to him. Bella, as far as we can tell, loves him because she thinks he’s hot.

I know this is simplifying it a little, but not by much, in my opinion. We never doubt how much they love each other, but we don’t really understand why, other than love at first sight.

Thinking about all of this made me think, naturally, about my own husband, and why I love him. What would I tell someone else about our relationship? So I’m going to write some things down – consider it my Valentine’s day gift to my sweetheart.

I love how much Mike loves to laugh, and to make me, and our girls, laugh.

Mike loves to tell me I’m cute and make me blush and crinkle my nose. He says it makes me more cute.

I love how, when Mike smiles, his eyes crinkle up and sparkle.

I love his laugh lines around his mouth and eyes.

I love that we both joke about him going bald. He’s accepted the inevitable.

I love how we talk about what we will be like when we are an old married couple.

I love that we plan on being married to each other when we are in our sixties.

I love how he hugs me when I cry while we talk about life insurance.

I love that he makes us talk about life insurance, emergency preparedness, and other disastrous things that could happen to our family even though they make me cry.

I love knowing that I am the most important person in my husband’s life.

I love that Mike always tries to arrange his work schedule so he can come home at 4 instead of 5, to be with his family one extra hour each day.

I love that he cannot comprehend dads who work so late at night that they don’t get to see their children.

I love that he has taught our daughters to do all sorts of things – animal noises, playing ball, tickling games, hide and go seek…

I love how much he loves the way Kaitlyn greets him when he comes home.

I love that he is patient with the fact that Amanda always runs and hides so she can surprise Daddy when he comes home.

I love that he loves doing the “hot dog” dance from Mickey mouse clubhouse with Amanda.

I love that he knows the theme songs to most of Amanda’s favorite shows.

I love the way he snuggles me close when we dance.

I love the way we fit together when we cuddle. He is just the right size for me.

I love that after the girls go to bed, we have an unspoken agreement that we can do our own thing for a little while, and then we cuddle or play games together. We have couples time every night.

I love that he taught me to play cribbage.

I love that he helps with the dishes – sometimes a lot more than I do.

I love that he helps me cook.

I love that he tells me about his work projects and tries to explain what he’s working on in a way I understand.

I love that he will always sit and listen to my music and tell me what he thinks of it.

I love how he supports me in doing the things I want to do, like writing and composing music.

I love that he helps me with Katie and Amanda when they wake up in the middle of the night.

I love his hugs.

I love that he knows how to make me feel attractive, and that he pays me compliments often.

I love that we start and end each day by saying “I love you.”

I love that neither of us are the type of person to yell at each other or get into big arguments.

I love how much he loves the Dodgers. I remember him jumping for joy one year when they made the playoffs.

I love that we watched the world series on our honeymoon – but only because we both wanted to watch it.

I love how loyal he is

I love how honest he is.

I love how he puts up with me.

I love how he calls me “pretty lady.”

I love how sweet he is to me when I’m pregnant. Which I’m not, just in case you were wondering.

I love how forgiving he is.

I love how we depend on each other, and how well we work together as a team.

 

Have I mentioned that I love my husband?