True love and happiness, what is that exactly? How often do you feel it? Do you know what it is? Is it easy to lose sight of? There are so many questions around the 'meaning' of love and happiness and I use my inverted commas to highlight the point.. What is love? Happiness?

This past weekend I spent with my husband and big girl in the dales celebrating my dear friends Kate and Tom's wedding. It was a magical weekend full of love, nostalgia and laughter and I felt happy, relaxed and totally ecstatic for the bride and groom - their love and adoration was palpable and I was extremely proud to be a major part of their day. Not only them but their parents, friends and all who came together to celebrate their marriage - everyone was calm and joyful and embraced all aspects of the time together. I think it's sometimes easy to forget the friends and families involvement at a wedding but I was acutely reminded when the vicar asked the congregation to support the couple in their marriage (to which we all answered with a resounding 'we will') that it is easy to overlook those around us when we are in a marriage, but that there are times when we need and will rely on the support of our loved ones to get us through, especially at times when our wedding vows are challenged. 

Love, to me, is in the detail, and I don't just mean the love between a man and wife, I mean in every thing, love for friends and family too.  Things like cooking a meal for a table full, handing over the last cookie, talks in the middle of the night about anything and nothing, making yourself extra chips when she says she doesn't want any, because you know she will!  The filling up of her car, or de icing it on a frosty morning, surprising him with his favourite cooked breakfast after he has returned from walking the the dog in the cold whilst everyone else cuddles up on the sofa, opening a bottle of wine or running a bath for them to come home to because you know they have had a rough day, the impromptu kiss in the middle of the high street just because your smile makes his heart soar, the fact that you engage each others families, regardless of differences.  And with friends; the handwritten card that falls on to the doormat with a personal message inside, making plans together for the future, the text message that says they are thinking of you or had remembered a little discussed anniversary or occasion, the time taken to spend time or visit each other, or even picking up the phone despite busy schedules, the unfaltering support in times of immense hardship, the fact that you still love them as much as ever despite the geographical distance, that you would move heaven and earth to help them and that you can forgive, even though your heart is breaking.  Love brings happiness, so take time to be thoughtful and loving to those around you - sometimes hard, but always worth it.