Marriage Traditions- S.H.M.I.L.Y.
SHMILY has been a part of my marriage since day 1. When my husband and I first got married one of the gifts we received was a book that included a short story from a couple who always made an effort to intentionally show each other how much they loved each other. They did this through a five-letter acronym “SHMILY.” The acronym stands for “See How Much I Love You?”
A few days after reading that short story together, I woke up with a slip of paper on the pillow next to me that said, “SHMILY.” And thus, SHMILY became a part of our marriage as well.
Since then I have seen those 5 letters written out in the flour canister, coffee grounds, computer backgrounds, slips of paper in my coat pocket, post it notes on the steering wheel of our car, the lawn mower, a freshly folded pile of laundry, the chalkboard wall in the kitchen of our new house, and so many more.
Sometimes “SHMILY” is accompanied by a kind gesture like scraping ice off of a windshield. But sometimes it’s just a little reminder that says, “Hey… I’m thinking about you and I love you.”
This is a tradition that might seem corny to some. But for Chase and I, it is a treasure. In marriage, it’s easy to think how thankful we are for each other and never actually communicate it. But SHMILY allows Chase and I to be more intentional to communicate with one another that we love them sometimes with little things, sometimes with big things, and sometimes with nothing at all but those 5 letters! We have found that SHMILY was the PERFECT word for funny times (like when I bought a box of condoms for him and attached a post-it with those 5 letters even though the flu had me feeling like I was on my deathbed), and some very serious times (like when he wrote it in a card after we lost a child to miscarriage).
SHMILY has always been the perfect word when we couldn’t find any other.
So whatever the word is for you, we hope you’ll find some way to show your spouse how much you intentionally love them as well!