With Love to My Danish Architect

My friends joked that my husband's new glasses make him look like a Danish architect and in my mind the nickname has stuck. He is fastidious, particular, and exacting, just like Danish people and architects are stereotypically supposed to be. This is especially true in regard to his efforts at being a good husband.

Last week I was mumbling about how white trash our minivan is looking these days. I backed out of the driveway in a hurry and knocked off a side mirror. The front headlight was out. And the entire vehicle looked like it had been bathed in mud...which it pretty much had thanks to our awesome winter weather conditions. So Jeremy left to run some errands and returned home after cleaning and detailing my van, and installing a new headlight. "Better?" he asked later that evening. I nodded, but all I felt was shame. One of us was trying really hard. The other was being petty and nitpicky. It wasn't just his kindness that mattered, it was his willingness to be kind when I was being difficult.

My Danish architect has also taken notice of how tough our girls have been lately. Tough on me, that is. It's a rare instance that I seem to get it right enough to warrant their approval, and between kids, house and my work he sees the uphill battle every single day. I came home from my friend's house the other night and he was vacuuming. Unsolicted housework! Now, the fastest way to my heart is through the vacuum cleaner, and in that moment I truly felt swept off my feet.

It's the little things. Why can't I seem to remember and apply that simple formula to my own behavior. It's the little things that speak love the loudest. Haven't some of your most poignant instances of love been through small, merciful acts of kindness?

Happy Valentines Day to my Danish architect, my one true love.