{"id":386,"date":"2011-08-31T10:22:11","date_gmt":"2011-08-31T14:22:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/smalltownamerica\/?p=386"},"modified":"2011-08-30T10:25:25","modified_gmt":"2011-08-30T14:25:25","slug":"the-romantic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/smalltownamerica\/2011\/08\/the-romantic.html","title":{"rendered":"The Romantic"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 My husband is a hopeless romantic.\u00a0 He has always been that way.\u00a0 He loves flowers and I know he loves me.\u00a0 I used to travel a lot when my first book was released, he always had a fresh bouquet of flowers waiting for me when I got home.\u00a0 Most of the time they were from my own backyard, but that made them all the more special.\u00a0\u00a0 One spring he planted red tulips to spell out “I love you” in the flower bed.\u00a0 It was a little hard to read, but the thought was what counted.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We have been married nearly 42 years now and we have had our ups and downs.\u00a0 All couples do.\u00a0 But, with Jesus in the center of our marriage, we have weathered the storms of life and come out all the stronger for them.\u00a0 We raised 3 beautiful children and now have 9 grandchildren and one great grand daughter.\u00a0 Life is good.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\"\"<\/a>Rich likes to take me to the Marblehead Litehouse on Lake Erie.\u00a0 We sit for hours on the rocks and enjoy God’s creation.\u00a0 We talk while listening to the gentle waves breaking against the shore.\u00a0 It is the most peaceful place.\u00a0 Afterwards we stop for ice cream.\u00a0 The perfect date.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He enjoys old cars and tractors, so I drag myself along to these events.\u00a0 I like shopping and theater, so I drag him along with me on these occasions.\u00a0 It’s all about compromise and going the extra mile.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rich doesn’t grumble when I want Diary Queen ice cream at 8:30 in the evening and the cars already put away for the night.\u00a0 He doesn’t complain if I go for a girls night out.\u00a0 He encourages me to travel, even when he can’t come along.\u00a0 He buys me chocolates and perfume, neither of which I need.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I think I’ll keep him for a few more years.\u00a0 I’m getting too old to train a new man.\u00a0 Besides, I love the old guy in a thousand ways.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 My husband is a hopeless romantic.\u00a0 He has always been that way.\u00a0 He loves flowers and I know he loves me.\u00a0 I used to travel a lot when my first book was released, he always had a fresh bouquet of flowers waiting for me when I got home.\u00a0 Most of the time they were…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":420,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,1],"tags":[29],"class_list":["post-386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-just-for-fun","category-uncategorized","tag-family"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Romantic - Small Town America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/smalltownamerica\/2011\/08\/the-romantic.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Romantic - 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