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You know, I read a lot, and from wildly varying sources on wildly varying topics. Relationships and how to keep them working is a popular topic in most popular literature.

What continues to astound me about this topic is how people get so twisted about showing someone they love them. Like it's hard. Like you have to do this continual train of ever more extravagant gestures or you aren't doing enough. The truth is, all you have to do is listen. My fiancée has been wanting a cat for a long time. She talks about it constantly. Not because she's the crazy cat lady, but well, she likes cats. As well, she wants someone to come home to besides a plant in the months, well, year before we get married.

Normally, this isn't a problem. Cats are easy. However, her apartment complex is being dumb, and charging like $400 for a pet deposit. Which for her, is just too much for that. To make it worse, her sister found her a great cat. Which she couldn't get. Until yesterday, when I got a back payment for some stuff. Not a huge amount of money, but enough to help her get a cat.

One of her co-workers said "He spoils you". Maybe I do. But I know that the happiness I heard in her voice when I told her, and the lack of sadness I hear because she's getting something she desperately wanted, even if it is "just a cat"...that's worth every penny right there. If you can't spend a little cash to make someone you love stupidly happy every so often, then why bother having money?

All I had to do was listen, and the way to make her smile was really clear. Didn't take diamonds. Didn't take fur coats. Didn't take BMWs or Benzes, or a vacation in the Bahamas. All it took was acting on what she'd been telling me. Not asking for, just talking about.

You want to show someone you love them? Just listen man. It really works wonders.

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