Today it’s my 33rd birthday. I love a good birthday as well as anyone, but today I am especially reflecting on how simple thoughtfulness can be so easy to exercise but mean so much to the recipient. It started off this morning when I returned from a 6:00 run with my friends in the dark and the cold during which my husband passed like a sailor in the night on his way to the hospital for early morning rounds.
Now I should preface this by saying
that my husband of 15 years knows me very well.
He knows I don’t like lots of gifts or big gifts. I always tell him I just want to know he thought
of me, that he put some time and effort into it. So this year I am not trying to brag, but he
totally nailed it. I walked in the door
slightly breathless from the cold, trying to slap the chill out of my legs and
had literally forgotten it was even my birthday when I turned the corner on our
garage door entryway to find purple streamers and blue balloons. Just a few, nothing crazy, but cute and
festive and happy-birthdayesque. It
probably cost him no more than a few dollars and took no more than 15 minutes
of his time before he headed out the door, but the simple gesture made me smile
and laugh and think, “What a cool dude?”
I grabbed a glass of water and turned to go upstairs to see that he had
even hung the Happy Birthday sign up on our balcony above our family room vault—the
kind of thing that moms always remember and guys almost always forgot. I literally started laughing out loud—really? He even went down to the wrapping paper
closet and got out the Happy Birthday sign? This man is too good to be true. (Note to self: remember this the next time I
am feeling not so nice about my husband who is pretty awesome but, as with all
humans, also has his not-so-awesome moments lest you think I am one of those
swooning wives who unrealistically gushes).
No gushing here. Just
honesty. He is a guy. A simple guy.
A guy who would never care himself about streamers or balloons or a
birthday sign. But he has figured out
that I care and that it matters to me.
And so it matters to him.
Then, during the day, I received
quick texts, calls, or emails. Most of
them very simple. Just a little “Happy
Birthday,” all of which to me said, “I love you. I care about you. I am thinking about you.” Simple thoughtfulness.
Lastly, as I sat down to write
today and tried to figure out what to write today in the muddle of topics
flowing through my brain that has been crowded with way too much legal argument
lately given our heavy case load at the office there was a soft knock at my
door. My baby is sleeping, down for her afternoon
nap, so I already knew whoever it was it must be someone I know well enough to
know not to wake the babe. I open the
door and there stands my dad holding a vase with a simple, bright, beautiful
bouquet of flowers. He gives me a
hug. He gives me a kiss. He hands me the
flowers and says, “I love you,” and heads back out for his day as I head back
to mine. I don’t know where to put the
flowers because they are so beautiful and cheerful and bright and every time I
look at them I know I will think that they are saying to me, “I love you” from
my dad.
Simple thoughtfulness. The text that you send saying I am thinking
about you. The card that you write
telling someone thank you. The
compliment you think in your head and say out loud. The bouquet of flowers you deliver. The streamers and balloons you put up. The quick note you scribble and stick in your
child’s lunch box in the morning. These
are simple things. They don’t cost much
and they don’t take much time or money, but they are all “I love yous”
whispered in soft, calming ways and repeated each time the recipient looks at
your simple gift. Have you given simple
thoughtfulness today?
