Brie Gowen is a busy wife and mother juggling raising three children, a fourth child on the way, and a career as an ICU nurse.
She and her husband have two girls--a five-year-old and a two-year-old--and another on the way. They also share custody of her husband’s 12-year-old daughter from a previous marriage.
Gowen recently jolted awake only to find her husband had not slept beside her.
“The side of the bed to my left was empty. In fact it was untouched. That side of the bed was still tidily made, and that told me two things. One, I really had slept like a rock. And two, my husband had not come to bed at all last night,” she recalled.
She remembered the day before, when he filled up her near-empty gas tank to save her some time, and all the other small acts he often performed that showed how much he cared for her. “Yet he wasn’t in my bed,” she said.
But as she made her way to the bathroom, she saw him.
“There on the living room floor lay my husband, surrounded by three girls, and one of them was actually sprawled out across his chest,” she said.
In order to make sure Brie had a good night’s sleep, her husband and girls had a little slumber party in the living room.
They had some fun, but made sure to stay quiet so Brie could wake rested. Extreme gratitude came over her.
“I had slept hard, and good. I had drove to work with plenty in my gas tank, and I had arrived on time. But mostly I had walked into work feeling loved and appreciated,” she said.
She told Liftbump that she and her husband make sure to pay attention to each other and do small acts of love every day.
“My husband and I work to communicate on all issues, make time together alone, without the children, and are quick to praise the other spouse’s efforts,” she said.
“I leave my husband love notes and he always compliments the things I do around the home. I make nice dinners and dress attractively for him, but the fact that he notices and speaks appreciation towards me encourages me to serve him more readily.”
She said she felt immensely grateful for “the gift of him” after realizing what he'd done.
“Plus I knew he'd be back in our bed come tonight,” she said.