Romantic...

 

"Isn’t it romantic?

Music in the night, a dream that can be heard.

Isn’t it romantic?

Moving shadows write the oldest magic word.

I hear the breezes playing in the trees above

While all the world is saying you were meant for love.

Isn’t it romantic

Merely to be young on such a night as this?

Isn’t it romantic?

Every note that’s sung is like a lover’s kiss.

Sweet symbols in the moonlight,

Do you mean that I will fall in love perchance?

Isn’t it romance?

(instrumental)

Sweet symbols in the moonlight,

Do you mean that I will fall in love perchance?

Isn’t it romantic?

Isn’t it romance?"

( Lyrics by Lorenz Hart, music by Richard Rodgers)

 

 

What is romantic?

The past couple of days leading up to Valentine's Day today I have pondered on that question. Every person has different thoughts and views on what they would consider is romantic. I thought that for this holiday for lovers, it would make a good blog entry,... this romantic stuff. So one evening this past week after having dinner with my mom I asked her the question...."What is romantic?".. Our conversation didn't exactly quite go as I was expecting,... It went something like this:

Me: "Mom, what do you think is romantic?"
Mom: "What is romantic? I don't know any romantic men, all I know is rheumatic men".
Me:... (eye roll)...Okay well what do you think is the most romantic gift you have ever gotten?
Mom: "Expensive jewelry".
Me: "Expensive jewelry you consider romantic?"..."you don't wear jewelry hardly at all".
Mom: "Well getting the jewelry was a surprise".
Me: "So anything else you want to elaborate on stuff that is romantic?"
Mom: "I did date a few guys in my younger years, but I just wanted a good time".
Me:...(shocked look)" MOM, do you know how that sounds?"
Mom: "I didn't mean it like that, I just liked to go out dancing, dinners, movies, some guys wanted to be more serious".
Me: "So when I write my blog on romance, I can tell everyone my mom said she only sees rheumatic men, thinks expensive jewelry is the most romantic gift, and you only were out for a good time"..."do you know how bad that sounds?".
Mom"...(giggle)... "well I did have a few encounters in my life".
Me:.. "ENCOUNTERS??!!"...."MOTHER!"...
Mom: ....(giggle)..." I only meant I have dated more than I thought when I look back on my life when I was younger"...."maybe I have been reading too many romance novels"....(giggle).
Me: "Yeah I think so"....(eye roll).

So much for going to my mom for the source of romance. Having four kids I thought for sure she would enlighten me on to what could be considered romantic.

Off I went on a search for what is romantic. I was lucky enough to catch a few friends on messenger and I posed the question to them. I asked the same amount of men and women to make it more fair and then thought I would post the results from my survey of what is romantic.

I have to tell you I was shocked. Not shocked at the answers but by who gave me those answers. Would you believe that the more romantic and sentimental answers were given by the men? I thought for sure when I asked the question of them, I would receive answers back such as ....hockey tickets, powertools, and sex.. Okay maybe that is a bit chauvinistic of me to expect those kind of answers, but I didn't expect the level of "mushiness" from the men. Maybe they were giving me the answers they thought I wanted to hear, but I don't think so. When you get right down to it, men like romance as much as women. Some of the responses I got from both sides of the spectrum when asked the question "what is romantic" were:

Feeling special, feeling supported
What someone does
Cooking dinner for your lady while she is taking a bubble bath
A loving glance
Touching and holding someone's face
Kissing
Holding hands while walking
A gentle touch
A gleam in the eye
Watching sunsets together



Hearing their answers it made me think harder on what I thought was romantic and I was asked by one or two people on what I thought was romantic. I told them, what I think is romantic ....is the unexpected.

I am not just talking about spontaneity either. I think romance can be found in almost anything and in anyone. It can be said with flowers, candy, jewelry, greeting cards....and it can be said with just a smile, a touch or fried potatoes....

Fried potatoes you ask,....yes in fried potatoes. I knew a guy that would stay up waiting for his wife to get home from working second shift. When she walked thru the door after midnight he would have waiting for her a plate of hot fried potatoes,...one of her favorite foods. He did it just because....

I like that... fried potatoes....it's just so unexpected.... and romantic...