Valentine's Victory

This time last year, I was apparently a little annoyed. I felt at the time my annoyance was justified, and I while I may now think that my little hissy fit wasn't my finest moment, I still uphold my beliefs on the minor issue of Valentine's Day.

This year, I was going to do something cool. I hadn't nutted it out completely but I was thinking a fun day out or dinner somewhere we'd never been before. Just something that we don't normally do. After all, we don't do anniversaries or anything so if I wanted a 'special' night out, I just had to do it myself. My plans came to nothing in the end as our beautiful country suffered our worst natural disaster in history. Somehow celebrating with frivolous gifts seemed inappropriate and heartless in the face of such tragedy.

So I settled on some gorgeous but simple paper and I spent a few hours one morning during our moving trying to put into words everything that he is to me. All in all, I spent $1.

I gave him the card when we woke up Saturday morning, then made him breakfast. He was moved and touched by the card and loved everything I'd written. I was happy with this. I know him now perhaps better than I ever have before, so I knew not to expect anything and I was completely fine with it. He strolled down the shops to get the papers to read while we enjoyed brekkie...and returned with a bunch of bright yellow tulips. They are absolutely beautiful and look stunning in our new house that we've made together.

So I guess I got my way this year, even though it doesn't really feel like it.
It feels better.
Like we've deepened our understanding of what the other person needs and wants and that's why these little things are happening. It's brilliant. And it all comes back to the wise words of a friend of mine: You have to teach your partner how to read you. You can't just expect them to read your mind. It's all about explaining why you reacted in a certain way, and what you need from them when that happens. It sounds stupidly obvious but it's definitely worth a try.


Here's hoping you all had something to smile about on Saturday.