Romance is every day by Jill James

I am not the only woman who thinks my husband is the most romantic they know. I have lots of girlfriends who adore him and how he treats me. We will celebrate 25 years of marriage this June and he still calls me his ‘lovely bride’. It is the little things that add up to romance. A man doesn’t need the grand gesture; the champagne and strawberries, the world-wide vacation, the enormous diamond ring. Okay, we’ll take those things from time to time, but it is the little things we will remember years from when they occur.

I came to my marriage after a disastrous live-in relationship. My self-esteem was at an all-time low from being not good enough to marry. So, I met my now husband, fell in love, and prepared to marry. One day we were in his office and he says he has something to show me and takes a rubber stamp out of a small box. You know, the one with your address to put on envelopes. Well, this one says Mr. & Mrs. RealName. I started crying. I had found someone who wanted to be Mr. & Mrs. with me. And was excited about it!!

Over the years there have been necklaces, bracelets, rings, and trips. There have been ballets, operas, and evening gowns. There have been surprise clean houses, surprise flowers on my car seat after a writers meeting, and surprise vacations. But, nothing means as much as that rubber stamp, proclaiming to the world that we are Mr. & Mrs. Somebody every time we use it.

Jill James, author of contemporary and paranormal romance
and a proud Mrs. to her Mr.