Page 116 - The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love That Lasts

ridiculous.”
He was a sincere husband who failed to understand
the tremendous power of presence. His being there for his
wife was more important than anything else in her mind.
Physical presence in the time of crisis is the most powerful
gift you can give if your spouse’s primary love language is
receiving gifts. Your body becomes the symbol of your love.
Remove the symbol, and the sense of love evaporates. In
counseling, Don and Jan worked through the hurts and
misunderstandings of the past. Eventually, Jan was able to
forgive him, and Don came to understand why his presence
was so important to her.

If the physical presence of your spouse is important to you,
I urge you to verbalize that to your spouse. Don’t expect him
to read your mind. If, on the other hand, your spouse says to
you, “I really want you to be there with me tonight, tomorrow,
this afternoon,” take his request seriously. From your
perspective, it may not be important; but if you are not
responsive to that request, you may be communicating a
message you do not intend. A husband once said, “When
my mother died, my wife’s supervisor said that she could
be off two hours for the funeral but she needed to be back
in the office for the afternoon. My wife told him that she felt
her husband needed her support that day and she would
have to be away the entire day.