When we love someone, we know that we do love. We know because that love comes from our heart. We know from how the object of love takes a position of importance in our mind and heart, that rules our thoughts and actions. We also know that although we love, we can try to love better and more rightly; our love is not perfect.

Daily companion to a man:

Meals plain and simple, not dainty dish; the world out there is complicated, he says

Home, not a frolicked display, but pleasant enough to retire; a day at work is often messy and tiring to have to play keep-house again at home

Household trivials but necessities calmly taken care of, not fussed about; there are many more significant tasks and duties

Admiration; for his particular attendance and preciseness to and about truth, he is not being particularly fussy

Care; the cares of the head and shepherd of the family are upon his shoulders

Rest; earthen vessels are not without bodily infirmities

Nurture; nature gets reticent at times

Tender encouragement; a man gets discouraged, confused, lost and disillusioned, too

Devotion and attention when he speaks, warmth and bonding when speaking becomes difficult

Strength and patience without murmurs; trials must come our way

Loyalty in failures; one cannot be proud of his failures, but we can still be loyal to him

Quietness in prayers; for faults, for remnants of sin, for ill will and distempers, for temptations he is faced with everywhere he goes

Above all, trust in him—in everything and in any matter at all, major and minor, big and small; there may lie our peace

It moved me to realise that what I saw with my eyes is a picture of what it really is for every couple, though not readily seen. And yet, precisely because both are lame, they need each other’s support to be strong.