Is it just me or has everyone become that person?

Is it just me or has everyone become that person?

I turn 51 on Monday, it’s not one of the classics but people keep asking me what I want for my birthday.  And like the cliched old boiler I have clearly become, I genuinely don’t want anything.  I have everything I want.

I have told you before I married really well.  I live with a bloke who gives good loving. If I’m being lazy and reading in bed he brings me a cup of tea.

He organises all the things I hate thinking about, like insurance, car tyres and gas for the stove.

He leaves me alone when I am sick of talking, probably because he likes me better that way and I really like the way he says my name. He’s got a very nice voice.

My mum lives with us and nobody in the world gives love better than my mum.  She changes my sheets, irons my clothes and if I say I have a headache, she is boiling the kettle and popping me a couple of Panadol before my bum hits the couch.

My kids are great lovers too.  My son and his girlfriend, as the only children left locally, recognise my need to see family more than is normal and never say no.

Love is lots of things, isn’t it?

Love is sharing your food, even when it’s something really delicious.

Love is the way my husband and I take our tea the same, always have.  If one of us changes the type of tea, decides to have it with milk or without, the other person just changes too.  I don’t think we ever even talk about it.  I’ll just have what he’s having.

Love is all being home together, everyone on the couch, even staring at our phones, because that’s where we are happiest.

A friend said to me once, love is what’s in the room at Christmas time, if you stop opening presents for a minute and just listen.

Love is telling someone they look good today, or bringing in the washing without being asked or never stealing their phone charger.

Love is being able to tell someone about your manky eye or infected toe without them secretly wanting you to stop.

Love is my 22 year old baby who lives overseas and loves her life but sometimes misses us so much she just rings up and cries.

Love is my middle child ringing to tell me she is walking to the coffee shop.

Love is my dogs needing to follow me from the couch, to the line, to the toilet, back to the couch.  It’s a long time since my kids did that but I like it just as much in dogs.

And I really mean it when I say, at 51 in three days, love is all you need.

Caroline xx