There are some things we do out of obligation: going to work, paying the bills, pretending to like your mother-in-law.

There are some things we do out of personal enjoyment: going to the movie theater, treating yourself to a slice of chocolate cake, treating yourself to another slice to chocolate cake.

Then there are some things we do out of love, and these things tend to be actions performed out of both obligation and personal enjoyment... things that we wouldn't necessarily want to do but do anyway because we care about that person, and seeing them happy makes us happy.

Because I Love You

She wakes him up
when he doesn't hear the alarm
the one that she set for him
go off the first time
or the second time.
He lets her sleep in on the weekends
and rolls out of bed early in her place
so that she can wake up to hot coffee
and the smell of half-priced hazelnut creamer at her leisure.

She buys celery, spinach, parsley,
arugula, apples, berries,
and other unnecessary produce
all organic, of course
so that he can get his daily serving
of fruits and vegetables in a convenient breakfast smoothie.
He offers to make breakfast himself
usually a toasted bagel sandwich
with a runny egg, crisped bacon,
and melted cheddar oozing out the sides
to give her a break from cooking
but more probably as a way to avoid drinking
his green smoothie.

She lets him take up most of the space
on the sofa because she knows
how much he enjoys the moments he gets to be
a horizontal couch potato.
He takes up most of the space
on the sofa because he knows that if she gets tired
which he knows she will
she'll curl up on top of him, and he'll hold her close
as they'll take a small nap together.

She buys Doritos, Chili Cheese Fritos,
and puffed up Cheetos because she knows he likes to snack
after serving him a dinner he's not a fan of.
He eats everything she puts on his plate
even when the meal prepared isn't his favorite
because he knows
(and wants her to know that he knows)
that she put in time and effort into preparing
a still-hot tinfoil-covered home cooked meal
rather than a Chinese takeout box in the fridge
with a post-it note reading, "here's dinner."

She agrees to go on spontaneous date nights to the casino
with him so that he isn't lonely
and doesn't end up losing all their money.
He loses all their money in order to get compensation
at the hotel restaurant where he gets a hamburger
so she can enjoy a nice steak.

She continues to talk to him about the existence of aliens,
share her ambitions of becoming a 60-year-old bodybuilder,
and read him passages from books about spiritual guidance
because she knows he hates it, but
that's part of the fun.
He continues to blame his farts on her,
stick his sweaty feet in her face, and
beg her to take him along on her trips to Costco
because he knows she hates it, but
that's part of the fun.

She does what she does
because she loves him, and
he does what he does
because he loves her,
and what a beautifully transparent notion that is.