We were sitting in discussion groups in our marriage class when Bob posed the following question to the wives: “What does ‘romantic’ mean to you?” At first there was silence and knit brows, but one by one, the women began giving examples.
“When my husband asked my friend to babysit our kids for the weekend and he kidnapped me.”
“When my husband made reservations at a nice restaurant and took me there for no special reason.”
“When he found a company to custom-make my favorite perfume that was no longer being made commercially and bought me a life-time supply.”
“I came home from work and he said, ‘Let’s do something special.’ We rode the Palm Springs Tramway to the top of Mt. San Jacinto and had dinner there. It was just spontaneous.”
“He texts me in the middle of the day to let me know he is thinking about me.”
“I like it when he tells me what he likes about me. That’s romantic.”
“When he told me specifically why he thought I was beautiful.”
“Sometimes it’s just a touch—his hand on my shoulder—a little massage—sitting with our shoulders touching in church.”
“He used to leave notes for me on the windshield of my car.”
“Taking Salsa lessons with me even though he didn’t want to. He did it just to make me happy.”
“The time he asked me to explain to him why I liked flowers. They weren’t that special to him and I could tell he genuinely wanted to know why they were special to me.”
“Watching Pride and Prejudice with me—BBC version—all six hours! Making the herb tea and kettle corn was a nice touch.”
“He got me a huge bouquet of flowers and had them delivered to where I work. The other girls were all envious.”
“He keeps pursuing me.”
The ladies gave many different examples, but one common theme: His words or his actions told me I was special to him. I was important. He noticed me. I was top of mind with him. He’d heard my heart. I felt cherished.
Husbands, have you ever asked your wife what she considers romantic? Ask her. Write it down. Hide the list! Then, when she’s forgotten about the list, start working your way through it.
We would love to know what you consider romantic.
