“Love Story” with Ali McGraw and Ryan O’Neal was a very popular movie in the 1960’s. The most famous line in the movie is the often repeated “Love means you never have to say you’re sorry.”
Why shouldn’t you tell someone you love that you’re sorry for something you’ve done to cause them sorrow?
Why shouldn’t you say you’re sorry if you’ve been a fool or abusive or just plain stupid?
You’d apologize to a friend or a co-worker, wouldn’t you? So why not apologize to your husband or wife, someone you love?
Love means apologizing when you need to and sometimes even when you don’t just to break the silence. Apologizing is simple and a lot easier than letting a little situation blow up into a marriage threatening incident. “I’m sorry.” How difficult can that be to say if it’s important to your husband or wife to hear?
Love means someone who cares, someone who wants to know how your day was. Someone who is willing to listen to your complaints about the unfairness of your boss, or the bank, or the terrible traffic, or the credit bureau, or a thousand other annoyances that people encounter every day.
Listening without criticizing or giving advice is a major gift you can give someone you love. Sometimes it helps to just say what you’re feeling to someone else, to get it all out, and once it’s out, life goes on.
Love means silly little gifts for no special occasion, goofy or sappy cards, “just to say I love you” calls in the middle of the day. Doing these things might not be “your style” but it’s amazing how someone who has a hard time being romantic around their wife can turn into a romantic fool with their girlfriend.
Love means talking about what’s troubling you and not letting little issues become major annoyances because you’re too embarrassed or scared to tell your spouse there’s a problem. Love also means having a solution or some options for change when you do present a problem.
Love means staying true to your marital commitment and if the time ever comes that you want to break that commitment, love also means breaking that commitment legally and not adulterously. It is easier for a spouse to move past divorce when adultery isn’t involved.
Love means letting go of the past and grabbing hold of the present. Mistakes can never be undone and the past should never be used as a whip to keep someone you love in line.