These daily messages have been published every day for ten years. In the first few months I was finding my stride, experimenting with length and content. The photographs were inspired by my daughter's personal challenge to take a picture every day for a year and were always stellar. All three thousand "moats" as I call them are archived at www.caringformarriage.org, and I would invite you to check them out, except that I forgot to pay the annual subscription and the server is miffed at me. John is trying to make amends with the powers that be. 

 

The postings have found a rhythm, which vibrates and slows down, swaying between stories of my own family, musings about events around me, and recommendations for resources I've found helpful. Hopefully the variations have kept it interesting. I've given myself permission to dabble in the ordinary, the sentimental, and the knotty parts of life. Readers have been gracious in accepting these waves. Or simply unsubscribed. 

 

For a year or so I also recorded them, for those people who would rather listen than read. Regretfully, that app went the way of the cassette tape, and either retired with a full pension or is languishing in silence. But for those of you who enjoy being read to while you eat your morning toast, there is a new podcast put out by the Gottman Institute called Small Things Often. The first one is about appreciating your spouse, which is something I am a fan of. 

 

In fact I will act on that gratitude and tell you that John changes the sheets. We sleep on a waterbed and getting the elastic corners under two hundred pounds of warm water has always befuddled me, and by the third night my efforts come creeping back to the center. He has taken over the changing of the sheets, and I am grateful. 

 

What has your spouse, or daughter, or friend done that you appreciate? Tell me if you like. It would make my day better to hear it. But of much more significance is to tell them.