We've all seen those couples who are so obviously happy and look like they will last forever.
But any truly healthy couple will tell you that the quality of the relationship isn't in the grand, super obvious gestures that everyone can see. It's in the little moments and small, quiet acts that should actually be everyone's relationship goals.
Already smiling, Redditor iabbar asked:
"What is the most wholesome thing you secretly found your partner doing for you?"
An Ice-Melting Kind Of Love
"I got an ice maker for Christmas. I was monitoring the time it takes before I have to refill the water and it lasted d**n well over a week, and I was like, 'This is efficient AF!'"
"Turns out he was filling it up each night before bed to make sure I had ice in the morning."
- thatfernistrouble
Better Than The Original
"He kept disappearing into his shop for a few days. Like sometimes as soon as he got home."
"I finally snuck out there to see what he was doing and he was building a shelf that I showed him online and told him I really liked."
"I ran back inside so fast so he didn’t see me. He 'surprised' me with it a few days later. It’s on our wall (sob)."
- Bananas_arethe_worst
"Stooooop! I hope you pretended you thought he bought you the shelf online when he surprised you!"
- mallcity
Small Acts Of Care
"When we first started dating, I told him I had to cancel a date because I had the flu."
"He came by and brought me all the stuff you give someone when they’re sick."
"I woke up and found him grooming and watching a video on how to groom my high needs cat. I just knew he cared about the small stuff."
- Salt_Description_973
One Less Concern
"When I had cancer, my wife hid the bills and told me insurance was paying most of it. I was so worried about it but she took that worry away. A few years later I found this huge binder with all the bills…"
"I was in the hospital or bed ridden for two years. We had also just refinanced our house and took money out to redo our 60-year-old kitchen. Instead of a new kitchen she got a 'new husband,' as in me surviving cancer."
"We also went in debt with hospitals for a few years due to American healthcare."
"Once I got better, she told me how she didn’t want me to worry about bills because she wanted me to focus on fighting cancer."
- Lostinvertaling
A Quick Google Search
"I once caught my wife Googling ‘how to make your husband feel special’ and I swear my heart melted on the spot."
- Valuable-Box3078
"The first tip was probably to pretend to look up how to make your husband feel special and have them catch you so that they feel special, haha!"
- PersonalBrowser
Little Travel Touches
"When I’d travel, she’d help me pack the night before. When I got to my destination, unpacked, and tried to put on new socks, I found little love notes."
"One time I didn’t find the note and wore it around all day until I got back to the room and took my shoes off. The ink got so blurry from the sweat, but it still melted my heart."
- Hungry_For_Pickles
Feelings: More Contagious Than A Cold
"When we were first dating, he woke up cold, thought I was asleep and tucked a blanket over me. That’s when I knew I was in trouble of catching very serious feelings, haha."
- oh_vera
"This is so wholesome. My boyfriend did something similar when he thought I was asleep. He got up to use the bathroom and noticed my legs were out from under the covers, so he tucked the duvet back around me."
"I’ve never told him I was awake and aware of it happening, I keep it as a little secret for me; this tiny thing that made me feel so loved."
- interesting_anteses
Safety First
"He said he farted and not to come in the room, but he didn’t fart. He was trying to remove a Huntsman before I saw it."
- DishAdministrative85
"...I'm guessing so he could save you from a reaction... like this."
- TheBookishAndTheBard
A Driveway To The Heart
"He used to shovel my driveway while I was at work but never told me! The whole time, I thought I just had really nice neighbors!"
"I was in my early twenties and still living with my parents at the time. He and I weren’t even dating yet when he was doing this, but one day my dad came home and saw him shovelling. Been together ever since, 15 years."
- Hopeful_Lemon9777
Taking One For The Cat Team
"Ever since me and my kitty moved in with my boyfriend, he has had worsening asthma attacks, he has always said it's gotten worse because of where he works, his seasonal allergies, dry climate, and so on."
"His best friend recently made a comment about his SEVERE CAT ALLERGY."
"He still denies that my cat has anything to do with his inability to breathe in the house without his inhalers and nasal sprays as a crutch. And cuddles her all of the time as proof… followed by an immediate asthma attack."
"This man has tried to spare me of all guilt, I love him so much and will do everything in my power to ease his pain and keep my kitty."
- Free-Perspective9466
"Get that man on Curex, or another similar regimen. They're basically exposure therapy for allergies, which can ease or even eliminate allergies to things like pets, even severe ones."
"My girl is also crazy allergic to pet dander, to the point of getting sneezy the moment she stepped into a pet-filled household. After about six months, she can go hours before she needs to take some allergy meds. The progress is stark. Might even be able to get pets of our own soon."
"Don't let that man suffer!"
- Mad_Scientist00
Sensitivity Buffer
"Sometimes when we are driving he will look me really deep into my eyes and say, 'I love you,' and get me to look into his eyes for a second."
"The other day I realised he is doing it so I don't see animals dead on the side of the road, because he knows I get really upset. (In Australia this is pretty common, especially with kangaroos.)"
"Also, I was having a bad day and had gone grocery shopping, and when I got home I realised I had squished the loaf of bread and nearly cried over it. I later saw on his phone he had Googled 'how to unsquish bread'..."
- honkifyouneedsleep
Days Upon Days Of Support
"I was in rehab due to my drug addiction, and when I came home, she’d made a kind of calendar for me where she got me a present and a little motivational note for every day I managed to stay clean until I reached one month."
- Oaktown98
An Incredibly Thoughtful Gift
"She wrote, 'I love today because...' notes every day for a year and gave them to me on one of our first Valentine's Days. There were so many wonderful quotidian memories I had forgotten about, it was so much dedication and so thoughtful. I'm tearing up even now."
- Typical-Dark-7635
The Best Part Of Waking Up
"I drink cold brew coffee every morning, but sometimes I forget to set up a new steep before I head to bed."
"When he’s prepping his stuff for the next day, he checks to make sure I have my coffee set up. He also moves my vitamins to the space directly in front of my coffee bottle in the fridge as a subtle reminder to take them."
"I’m pregnant with our third and kept forgetting to take my prenatal vitamins, so now he sets me up while he sets his own up every morning."
"The man is a saint and I’m still madly in love with him!"
- Gwenerfresh
The Perfect End To A Rough Day
"I am a big Stardew Valley player, and was really excited for the 1.6 update to drop. I could barely talk about anything else. I had to work the day it came out, and was having a tough day, so I told my husband that I would probably download the update when I got home and start it up the next night."
"When I got home, he had downloaded the update and had it set up to play, hung up string lights in the room, and set up a little snack station with my favorite snacks and drinks next to the couch for me. He was also finishing dinner."
"He watched the baby and let me play for over three hours. I almost cried. I didn't realize I could love someone so much for such a small act of love, but it showed me that he knew me more than I realized."
- Jainafel
From new appliances to love notes left around the home to doing the little things that give our partners the biggest "ick," there are so many small things we can do to show our partners we love them in the biggest way.
