Page 99 - The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love That Lasts

other is willing to do it, (3) both of you know why you are
doing it—to express love by being together.
One of the by-products of quality activities is that they
provide a memory bank from which to draw in the years
ahead. Fortunate is the couple who remembers an early
morning stroll along the coast, the spring they planted the
flower garden, the time they got poison ivy chasing the
rabbit through the woods, the night they attended their first
major league baseball game together, the one and only
time they went skiing together and he broke his leg, the
amusement parks, the concerts, the cathedrals, and oh,
yes, the awe of standing beneath the waterfall after the two-
mile hike. They can almost feel the mist as they remember.
Those are memories of love, especially for the person
whose primary love language is quality time.
And where do we find time for such activities,
especially if both of us have vocations outside the home?
We make time just as we make time for lunch and dinner.
Why? Because it is just as essential to our marriage as
meals are to our health. Is it difficult? Does it take careful
planning? Yes. Does it mean we have to give up some
individual activities? Perhaps. Does it mean we do some
things we don’t particularly enjoy? Certainly. Is it worth it?
Without a doubt. What’s in it for me? The pleasure of living
with a spouse who feels loved and knowing that I have
learned to speak his or her love language fluently.
A personal word of thanks to Bill and Betty Jo in Little
Rock, who taught me the value of love language number