There is a story behind the phrase SHMILY.
John and Alice had been married for more than fifty years. Everyone wondered what the secret was to their success as a married couple. It wasn't just how long they had been together, but how happy they were together as a couple. Their smiles and jovial nature when they were in each others' company led everyone to believe that they were 'just that way.' Their personalities were completely amiable, so of course their marriage would be a successful one.
If you joined John and Alice in their home for a visit, you would almost agree with this explanation, except for one thing. The word 'SHMILY' seemed to be in several places, and some not so easily found places.
As Alice shuffled her slippered feet down the short hallway to the bathroom, she repeated to herself her morning mantra: "Is it morning already?" She sensed that John had passed behind her to head for the kitchen, but not without squeezing her shoulder lovingly. She lifted and turned her head enough to smile in his direction. Just after her hands were dried off, she looked at the purple sticky note just above her favorite hand towel. SHMILY! Alice pulled it off the wall, and entered the kitchen grinning, showing off where she got her laugh lines.
John put the key in the ignition, and then moved his hand to the gear shift to put it into reverse. It's now a quarter to ten, and he silently hoped he wouldn't late for his golf game with Bob and Andy. Then he touched something on the front side of the gear shift. It felt like both paper and tape. He pulled at it for a second, and then he saw the word, "SHMILY" staring back at him. He stopped and smiled up at the window where he knew Alice would be working on her quilting at this moment.
Just before John and Alice were going to sit down to watch their favorite t.v. show, John entered the kitchen to get them both drinks of cold water. Alice decided to get out some of those gingersnaps she'd bought yesterday, knowing that her husband loved them. She first grabbed for a paper towel to hold them, mentally noting that they were about two sheets from needing another roll. As she pulled, she thought something looked odd about that last towel. Was something on it? Alice rotated the cardboard paper towel holder, and then she saw "SHMILY" written across the last paper towel. Her eyes disappeared as she smiled broadly, and John heard "oh, you" as he was entering the t.v. room. A grin spread across his face. As only few would be able to guess if they came across 'SHMILY,' it stands for: See How Much I Love You.
Often we think that our loved ones know how much we care about them. We think we have plenty of time to express our feelings, but without action, our love can be forgotten or even diminish with time. Time and effort are important to building loving and lasting relationships, but in our world of wanting things faster and easier, we neglect to put in that time and effort for those we love. Those that live around John and Alice might never come to know that such love and happiness is as easy to achieve as a loving note, a surprise, a text, or a few more I Love You's to be said in a day. Who do you think should receive a 'SHMILY' note from you today?
