Man of my dreams

I was recently reading a book (but I stopped because it was so ridiculous) wherein a young lady, so IN LOVE, wrote about getting engaged to "the man of her dreams." He was tall and smart and gentle and had big biceps.
I got to thinking about my own husband. I don't know if he was the man of my dreams. I don't think I really had a preconceived idea of the man of my dreams when I met him. He is not tall, but I do think he had good biceps back then. I usually liked guys with big, melty brown eyes and my husband's eyes are kind of squinty and not really melty.
It put me in mind of a conversation about marriage that I had with a friend long ago. We were discussing the trials in our marriages and she said that she thought "dealing with a difficult marriage has more merit than dealing with an easy one." Yes!
It is easy to be loving to a man who is always making a fuss over you, still acting like he is "so in love" years into the marriage, who always puts you first, compliments you all the time, gives you back/foot rubs, etc.
However, for some of us, this is not the case. My hubby has been a good provider and faithful. He is also a churchgoer. I am grateful for these things.
But he is no Don Juan! I had to coerce my hubby into holding my hand and walking on the beach with me because it was my birthday. (We froze: my birthday is in
February.) I can't remember the last time he paid me a compliment. He rarely brings me flowers. He has never written that I am "AMAZING" or "The love of his life" on facebook. (He doesn't even have a facebook.) He is definitely not going to build me a Taj Mahal when I pass on. (He may add a room on the house for a pool table.) Sometimes I have wondered if my hands would fit around his thick, stubborn neck.
I say the woman who can still have a smile and a kiss for this guy every day when he gets home is pretty special!