Love Strokes

How does your spouse say “I love you”? Can you recognize it when he does? 

Briz showed up at the pool 10 minutes after the girls and I arrived. They little ones in their psychedelic suits run up and down the stairs to race down the water slides. He sits down beside me, an odd sight in his cowboy hat amidst the tattooed and oiled tanning bodies crowding the pool. “Are you going to swim laps with me?” Good idea, but I didn't bring my suit and just planned to read and write while my little ones got their fill. “Will you wave at me once in awhile?” I ask.

“Every time my arm goes up really high, I'm saying hi and I love you. “ I reexamine my manuscript. The sun fades the words and I strain to desipher. I look up. I see it. “I love you.” 

Back to work, I download pictures. Twenty minutes later.... I love you still.  His rhythm pulses as he glides back and forth through the water. Almost an hour has past. I look up. He is loving me across the pool. Continuously. First one arm rises in salute, then another. Its like breathing to him... this love he has for me.