February 13 2014

February 13 2014
Greetings My Friend,
Romance is in the air. Commercials are about Valentine's Day. A walk through
the drug store I see aisles of Valentine gifts to give. I see commercials
about Valentine's Day.
As I went through marriage workshops for the re-married I learned that it is
important to continue to date your spouse after the wedding vows have been
said. It is important to find time to go away and be alone for a period of
time, like a weekend get a way.
Junior and I have strived to keep on dating after we married. I am gratefull that
he insisted on this. I continue to know I am important to him. I love fixing myself
up pretty for time out with my guy and I love when I can hang onto his arm.
Due to Junior's balance issues I don't hold onto him often. I understand he can't but
he holds my hand when we are sitting in a movie, in church from time to time. So that
feels like the "hold his arm" moment for me.
As the years passed date nights took on different aspects. At first we went away for a
few day more often. We went to the show and out to eat more often. We then developed our
own date nights that were not the "norm". We loved Friday night grocery shopping. Since
I got off of work late we tended to shop later and the store was fairly empty. We got to
where we stole kisses in the aisles when no one else was there. We do that on the elvator
as well. When we are alone we tend to kiss for a bit before the next floor.
Our hectic work lives and volunteering and such meant that many times Saturday evening found
us watching a video at home with a bowl of popcorn. I loved it all snuggled up on couch next
to my man.
Sometimes when our health was better we would take off for a hike in the woods. We'd follow
trails and soak in the surroundings and we talked about everything. I loved it. As walking
trails became too hard we'd walk the asphalt trails. Then we learned to walk our neighborhood.
Out here in VA we walk our country lane and see woods, moutains and once in a while a deer. It
is like our hiking days.
These days we tend to work during the day and turn the TV on at night and to me it is a date. I
love our time to come togeather. Our trips to Johnson City, Kingsport or Bristol tend to be a
long drive. They begin to feel like a date to me as well. We are alone in a car and for some reason
that alone time always feels like time I draw close to Junior.
We tend to run to town once or twice a week and even that feels like a date to me. I think each couple
needs to find those things that work for them. For a time we went to a marriage retreat once a year. We
learned things and then one night was date night. Some couples had a picnic on the floor of the hotel
we were staying at. Some couples like the man combing the woman's hair or massaging her feet. Frankly
I am not all that excited about such things.
I have also seen couples that tend to do what the woman wants mostly. I learned to shoot a gun and some
date nights found us at a shooting range. Those nights Junior was about as excited as he could get. I
learned that he liked that more than a fancy meal in a resturant so I attempted to give him those moments.
Junior loves to shop and for that I am gratefull. He can look through racks and racks of clothing for hours
right alongside of me. I also have found that if I enter into his Lowe's shopping time he loves it. I have
walked up on Junior holding a drill and making the drill noise. As I come alongside of his likes he tends
to want to do my likes often. We don't quabble about what is fun. We try to accomodate each other.
For the longest time I thought I/we were not the romantic type. As the years went along I discovered that we
indeed were romantic. Just because we did not find the Hallmark moments the romance we enjoyed we did have
our own style of romance. We try to be true to our particular romance needs and we find love growing. We try
to take time outs often.
Come summer time I am sure we will head down the country lane several days a week. I look forward to our walk
with the dogs and with each other. We will dream about the next phase of rennovation or our next vacation and
a closeness developes. I feel connected because we take time to be alone.
May God bless you and keep you make His face shine on you.
Love
Janet