love thursday: back to family

Tomorrow, Marcus, Alex and I are flying to England to spend time with Marcus' family.  I'm really looking forward it:  I enjoy my in-laws, and Alex is beside herself at the prospect of spending so much uninterrupted time with her cousins.  (She's also living in hope that it will snow while we're there.  The weather forecast is predicting temperatures in the 50's.  I haven't the heart to tell her that she's far more likely to see rain than snow.)

One of the reasons I really enjoy visiting my in-laws is watching my husband interact with his family.  He's the oldest child of a large family, and they all live within about a 3 hours' drive of each other.  Only Marcus has married and moved thousands of miles away.  Marcus is the only one for whom his parents have to wait many months before setting eyes on him again.

And yet, every time we return to England, it's like he never left.  When we plan these trips, I never make any plans or expectations for myself (with the exception that on this trip, I'll get to meet someone who I only know via her blog.  I can't wait).  I generally just sit back and go with the flow -- let Marcus take the lead on what we do in his homeland, or how much time we spend with whom, or what sights he's keen on seeing.  For me, the joy of these holidays is watching him sit with his father in his garden, catching up on life; or sharing a glass of wine with his sister and gossiping about former classmates, or sharing a pint in the pub with his brother.

The joy is watching the man I love be loved by his family.

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Happy Love Thursday, everyone.  Please leave links to your images and stories of love in the comments section below.

And here's hoping your family welcomes you in warm love very soon.

Song:  When Love Comes to Town as performed by Herbie Hancock featuring Johnny Lang and Joss Stone