Monday, February 15, 2010

Love is......

I have been thinking alot lately about what love is.
Because of Valentine's Day everyone seems to have
love on their minds this month.
But I've been thinking beyond
moonlight and roses,
candle light dinners and
boxes of chocolate.
What is love lived out in
the daily trenches of a life?
Here are my thoughts and experiences of real love....

Love is flipping the clothes from the washer to the dryer
before you go to work every morning.

Love is letting me sit in the coziest corner of the couch
and letting me have most of the pillows.

Love is hanging and re-hanging a picture
on the wall of our new home and
being patient while I make up my mind.

Love is having picnics with me on spring days
when I know you don't really care for picnics.




Love is telling me I'm the most beautiful girl in the world
when I'm nine months pregnant
and we are sitting on a beach full of tanned,
creatively altered models, millionaires and movie stars in Malibu.

Love is bringing home just the right amount of chocolate
when you know I'm having a bad day.

Love is letting me have a red couch
when you want a brown one.
Love is watching football
with our sons
and jumping up and down and high fiving
after every good play.

Love is letting me keep the window cracked at night
to let the cool air in,
when I know that you hate getting into an icy cold bed.

Love is coaching our kids sports teams.

Love is holding the umbrella over me
when I know you are getting soaked.

Love is living a life of integrity
so that I can be secure in your faithfulness
to me and our family.


Love is getting up in the middle of the night to check out
a noise that only I heard.

Love is dropping everything anytime to come to my rescue.

Love is kicking butt at work so that you can provide
for our family well enough to allow me to
stay home with our babies.

Love is valuing a scrubbed bathtub, a mopped floor
or a carefully planned meal
and making me feel like I accomplished big things.

Love is showing mercy to our kids when
they really deserve wrath.

Love is filling up the gas tank for me
so I don't have to.


Love is enjoying a brunette
when I know you really love blondes.
Love is always choosing your family over your career.
Love is calling me a few times during the day
everyday
just to check on me and tell me that you love me.
Love is lunch dates on a regular Tuesday for no special reason.
Love is kissing me in public when I know
that's not your thing.
Love is honoring our daughter's decision to
remain pure until marriage
by replacing the cheap purity ring she bought for herself
with a real diamond ring.
Love is playing round after round
of a wii game with our son
just because he really wants to.


Love is letting me go out with the girls
and acting interested in the recap when I get home.
Love is watching chick flicks
and holding my hand during the
sappy parts.
Love is letting me hold the popcorn at the movie theater.
Love is driving slow in the rain or snow when you know I'm scared.
Love is making a special trip to pick up
tissues with lotion in them, orange juice,
cough drops and other comforts
when you know I'm feeling sick.
Love is forgiving me when I hurt you.


Love is jumping through hoops and
cutting through paperwork to fly home early from a long deployment
so that I could go be with my mom
when she needed me.
Love is meeting in the airport for 30 minutes that afternoon
as you were coming home from a five month deployment
and I was flying out
and assuring me that this was the perfect homecoming
and that our kids would be well cared for
while I was comforting my mom.


Love is not only opening our home to my grandmother
for an extended visit,
but sitting with her for hours on the back deck
listening to her stories and making her feel so special.

Love is coming with me to volunteer in our daughter's
classroom on your day off.
Love is making me feel gorgeous
when I'm tanned and toned,
when I'm having a bad hair and skin day,
when I've got last nights make-up on and tangled hair,
when I'm all dolled up for a night out,
when my jeans are too tight,
when my face is swollen beyond recognition,
when my hands are in dish water,
when I'm holding our newborn,
when I'm feeling less than confident,
or when I'm on top of the world.
Love is going through the Build-a-Bear routine,
including kissing the little heart and making a wish,
when we made a special bear for our little girl.

Love is taking care of me
and the kids and the house
when my doctor's orders had me elevating my ankle
for 8 weeks.
Love is having tea parties with a little girl
when I was still healing.

Love is putting so much energy into me
and my needs during my recovery
when all of the attention should have been on
you and your commissioning ceremony.
Love is choosing restaurants that you know I like.
Love is writing me love letters from the Persian Gulf,
from under the sea,
from across America,
and from secret places that I will never know about.

Love is not only buying that expensive bracelet,
but not making me feel horrible for losing it
11 months later
and still trusting me enough to
buy me more shiney bobbles.

Love is still being visibly in awe during intimate moments
even after 19 years.
Love is giving me the center brownie.
Love is letting me sleep in
when I know you are tired too.

Love is picking up a java chip from starbucks
for me, even when it's out of your way.

Love is laughing and saying,
"I love you sooooo much!" when I'm absent minded
or do something quirky.
Love is loving my friends and family
and being kind to them.

Love is spending time with our kids
and making them feel like the blessings they are.
Love is telling me that I'm a good mom
when I collapse in tears over
my feelings of inadequacy.
Love is not saying anything on those days
when you come home from work
and I'm still in my PJ's.
Love is taking me in your arms and telling me I'm beautiful
on those PJ all day days.

Love is ordering a dessert to share that you know I love
but that you don't particularly like.



Love is telling me how much you love
watching my ponytail swing back and forth
when I'm on the eliptical and you are
riding the excercise bike behind me.
Love is making me feel like I'm gorgeous
in a room full of chiseled,
athletic bodies at the gym.

Love is scooping up one of our daughters
and dancing around the living room with her.
Love is a thousand little things that you do
for me and our family everyday.
Love is my indescribably beautiful life
with you!

7 comments:

Laura said...

LOVE IS:
Coming to your blog to see a new update, whether sad, or happy. A piece of your life, sharing a picture of your family, loved ones, a photo session or even the morning view from your porch.

LOVE IS:
Having a friend like you to be able to catch up with even if it has been a few weeks or months since last talking and just chatting as if we never missed a beat

LOVE IS:
You, because your one of those people that make the world special, you make an impact, you listen, you give advice, you take the time.

LOVE IS...
Becca Cleary.

Anonymous said...

I cried while reading this. In this world full of broken hearts and disappoinments, it is really awesome to see a testament of love that has survived over time!! =)

~Valerie (GA)

JOY said...

I was told the best gift any man can give to his kids is for them to know there Mom is well loved.I will add to that and say The best gift a parent can receive is to know here Kids are loved . XOXO

Jessica said...

Your blog always makes me laugh, cry and just smile by the beautiful way you portray everything you feel. :) Thank you for sharing your life's joys, struggles and adventures!
-Jessica Behlke

TheCatLord said...

tissue!! please! i need tissue!!!
you and dave are the best!!!

Cheryl said...

This was the sweetest most heartfelt words of love I've ever read. Yes, tears are streaming down my face. How lucky you are. How lucky your family is.

Cristie :) said...

Ugghh...I hate you Becca. Can someone please bring me the box of tissue please?!??!