The Simple Things

When I was growing up and in my teen years, my mom would listen to LDS artists quite often. A few of these artists stuck with me. Afterglow was one such artist. While they started out as LDS artist, they released a couple albums under the name McCoslyn and Paye. I've grown kind of fond of the albums and while it really has nothing to do with the rest of this post, I found it applicable for this post's title and introduction.

One one of their albums they released, they have a song called The Simple Things. The lyrics are as follows.

THE SIMPLE THINGS

If there's one thing I've learned in my life,

About how to treat a sweetheart or a wife,

You can buy all the pearls, all the diamonds in the world.

But if you're wise, you'll take my advice.

'Cause a heart can't be purchased with gold.

If you want a love that lasts till you grow old,
Then your love can't depend on the presents that you send.
Hearts you buy, will never stay sold.

But it's 'Hello' every morning.
It's a kiss to say, 'Goodnight'. 

And it's knowing when she's had a day

That makes her want to be held tight.

It's the kind of small investments

That help you keep the love you've got.

It's the simple things that really mean a lot.

If there's one thing on which you can depend,

It's not the worth of gifts you give,

But the message that you send.

Give her time, give her love, give her all the stars above.
Just be sure you give the simple things until the very end.

But it's 'Hello' every morning.

It's a kiss to say, 'Goodnight'.

And it's knowing when she's had a day

That makes her want to be held tight.
It's the kind of small investments
That help you keep the love you've got.

It's the simple things that really mean a lot.

The simple things that really mean a lot.

This is a lesson Eric has learned well. He does so many 'simple' things that make me love him more each day. The following story is one such case.

After our vacation depression started coming back. I was still stressed when I would think about our vacation, one of the kids had been sick every day for the past 2 weeks and Eric still wasn't improving much. I was at the end of all I could take.

In the meantime Eric and I had wanted to come up with a solution for storing all of our board games. For a long time we kept them in the basement, but we'd find out the kids had gotten into them and lost pieces or destroyed the game in some other fashion. So then we put them in our closet, but I don't turn the stupid fan on when I shower because I hate the noise, so it was slowly destroying the boxes. Eric decided to just stick them on the floor and end tables in our room and we'd get bookcases for them sometime. That was probably 2 years ago. We finally had enough of them taking up space in our room so we took a trip to Ikea to find a solution.

While we were in Ikea I get a phone call from Tanis. He kind of mumbles and speaks fast on the phone, so I didn't understand what he was saying at first. All I heard was 'flower'. So I think Flower got outside and they got her back or something (he's called just to tell us this before). When I ask him about that he says, 'No,' and repeats his sentence. 'There are flowers here for Shilo Hardy.' I say, 'Someone delivered flowers for me?' and he says, 'Yes.' I tell him, 'Okay' and that's the end of the conversation.

Eric is a little frustrated as he wanted it to be a surprise, but I told him the color and type of flower were still a surprise. A little bit later I was looking for decorations to go on top of the cabinet we chose for the games, he mentions, "There's something at home to make it look pretty."

I kind of forgot about the flowers during our shopping trip and on the drive home, but when I got home I had a beautiful surprise. He had gotten me my favorite flowers in my favorite color. I was floored, they were beautiful.

Eric was a little bit frustrated when he saw the flowers and said they were supposed to look a bit different. He showed me the picture and it was supposed to be a multicolor arrangement. I decided it was an error in my favor and I really wasn't going to complain.

The flowers got even more beautiful as they started to bloom.

Day 3

DAY 4

So dang pretty. I almost cried when I had to throw them away. Instead I just messaged Eric and told him we had a problem. When he asked what it was I told him I had to throw out the flowers and now the space was too empty. I needed more flowers. He hasn't fixed that problem yet. HAHAHA!

Even though Eric was still pretty sick, he knew that I was struggling and hurting. His simple words on the card, 'You are never alone' will stick with me forever. I was stuck in my own struggles and frustrations, but it dawned on me - he was experiencing everything too.

He knows how stressed I was on our trip and he was hurting to know there wasn't anything he could do to help me out. He knew where my depression was coming from and while he tried his best to help me see the good, I just couldn't see it. He was hurting to know I was hurting. 

I am so very thankful for him and for all the simple things he does for me.