Page 157 - The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love That Lasts

wellspring of positive comments to her mother about her
cooking. In private and in public, he praised her culinary
skills. That daughter learned well from her mother’s model.
The problem is that she is not married to her father. Her
husband has a different love language.
In my conversation with this husband, it didn’t take long
to discover that “other things” to him meant sex. When his
wife was sexually responsive, he felt secure in her love. But
when, for whatever reason, she withdrew from him sexually,
all of her culinary skills could not convince him that she
really loved him. He did not object to the fancy meals, but in
his heart they could never substitute for what he considered
to be “love.”

Sexual intercourse, however, is only one dialect in the love
language of physical touch. Of the five senses, touching,
unlike the other four, is not limited to one localized area of
the body. Tiny tactile receptors are located throughout the
body. When those receptors are touched or pressed,
nerves carry impulses to the brain. The brain interprets
these impulses and we perceive that the thing that touched
us is warm or cold, hard or soft. It causes pain or pleasure.
We may also interpret it as loving or hostile.

Physical touch can make or break a relationship. It can
communicate hate or love.