What a difference a compliment makes.

Once upon a time, I thought my nose too big.  Then, one night on a date, the young lady told me how much she liked my nose.  Immediately I decided it a fine nose, worthy of a king.  I have not disliked my nose from that day.  Amazing what a compliment can do.

I love paying compliments.  I love paying compliments because I know how much I love receiving them.  I never lie.  I don't even exaggerate.  I do have a tendency to enjoy things more than most people do.  I'm kind of proud of that.  And it gives me pleasure to tell people they have given me pleasure.  Good work.  Nice dress.  Sharp shoes.  Usually two words will do.  Someone has said people always believe you when you say nice things about them.  That's not always true.  Sometimes it is.

So the other day another of those life-changing, self-image-resetting compliments came my way.

Lately, when I grope in the silverware drawer for a fork, I want a small fork.  And when I make myself a cup of coffee, I go for the small cup, and the most delicate of the cups in the cabinet.  Not the 12-ounce mug, but the 6-ounce cup.  The china, not the melmac.  The one I need to be a bit careful about.  I'm not sure why.

I married the wisest, smartest person I have ever known.  Someone once asked, if she's so smart, why did she marry me.  I grinned and said that I can be very persuasive when I want to be.  Anyway, it's her opinion that means most to me.  I fear her displeasure more than I fear anyone else's.  And her approval means more to me than anyone else's.  Some men laugh at me, but I think that is a wise attitude for a husband.  And I think her opinion of my opinion is somewhere near mine of hers.

We were talking, the trivial things husbands and wives discuss, and I mentioned that lately I have preferred the smallest fork and the most delicate cup.  She smiled, a little slyly, and said, "I know that.  I've always knows that."  (Funny thing.  I haven't always known that.)  "It's one of the reasons I married you."  (I bet she doesn't even know it was a compliment.)

The heavens opened and the angels sang. 

Well, not exactly.

But the world seemed a bit sweeter.  The woman I love loves me for me, and always have.  I never tried to come across like He-Man.  But I've always felt a bit of inferiority because I'm not.  Suddenly that doesn't matter.  She loves me.  ME! 

How strange to be told something surprising and new, and realize it's something you've always known.

What a joy to have married so well.