My Husband Loves to Make Me Happy

My husband doing things for me just to make me happy? Yeah, right. Very funny. Our marriage was just about as bad as it could get. 

Well, fast-forward two years of applying a few simple skills, and these little incidents happen so often that they don’t even shock me anymore! In fact, I’ve even come to expect them. 

For example, five months ago, we sold our house and moved into another area of our community. It was a really hard transition for me and just wasn’t a good fit from the start. On top of that, there was a huge sewage backup in the basement, and our landlady decided she might as well gut the whole level and rebuild it. Sigh. We would be living on top of a constructive sight for the foreseeable future. 

I desperately wanted to move back into our old neighborhood, but I was worried about telling my husband, not only because of his reaction but also because I didn’t want to cause the landlady to be disappointed. I was disrespecting myself and feeling miserable, so I received some guidance. 

After discussing it with my coach, I expressed my desire to my husband. The next thing I knew, he’d put the word out, and heard about a house that’s a five-minute walk from our old neighborhood and shul. It was bigger, newly remodeled, empty, and ready for us to move in! 

I’m so grateful to my husband for making this happen for me. I told him he was my hero. But even more so, I’m grateful that I honored myself by using the skill of expressing my desires and for the help of my amazing coach, who helped make the whole miracle happen. 

Another time my husband came to my rescue was when my younger child started attending playgroup. I used to drop him off daily, and since it's not far from the house, the trip only takes about fifteen minutes. However, I didn't like rushing out the door first thing every morning.

So, one day, I decided to tell him how I would love to be able to pray, have a coffee, and ease into my day calmly before going outside in the mornings. He didn’t respond immediately, but a few days later, he said, “You stay home. I’ll take both kids today.” 

I was so relieved and grateful. I thought it would be just that day, but he continued doing it consistently! I always text him afterward telling him how happy it makes me, and he loves receiving them. And guess what? When he feels good knowing that he made his wife happy, he’s more likely to do it again 

These are just two examples of many more. So yes, while I would have been laughing from disbelief two years ago, now I’m laughing out of joy. My husband truly only wants to make me happy, and I am so grateful that I have learned the skills to reshape my marriage in every way.