我從小生活在一個沒有溫暖，傷痕累累的家庭，這讓我缺乏自信，內心蒼涼。

我新婚時，丈夫每天早晨都會對我說同樣的話。“你今天真美。”

“說謊。”望著鏡中瘦弱、不施粉黛的自己，我咧嘴一笑，回敬丈夫。

結婚兩周年，丈夫擁抱著我，告訴我，我很美麗。“謝謝你。”溫柔的話語終于在我心里開了花。

許多年過去了，丈夫的頭發開始變灰，我也不再瘦弱，而依然不變的還是那留下臉龐的輕輕一吻和那一句“你今天真美”。

溫柔的話語具有感動靈魂的力量，哪怕是一個簡單的動作，一句簡單的話語，只要滿懷愛意，便能慰藉心靈，撫平創傷。

My newlywed husband said the same thing every morning. "You're beautiful today."

One glance in the mirror revealed that it was far from the truth.

A skinny girl with mashed hair on one side of her head and no makeup smiled back at me. I could feel my sticky morning breath.

"Liar," I shot back with a grin.

It was my usual response. My mother's first husband was not a kind man and his verbal and physical abuse forced her and her two children to find a safe place. He showed up on her doorstep one day with roses. She let him in and he beat her with those roses and took advantage of her. Nine months later she gave birth to a 9 lb. 13 oz. baby girl -- me.

The harsh words we heard growing up took root. I had trouble seeing myself as someone of value. I had been married two years when I surprised myself. My husband wrapped his arms around me and told me I was beautiful.

"Thank you," I said.

The same thin girl with the mousy brown hair still stared back at me in the mirror, but somehow the words had finally blossomed in my heart.

A lot of years have passed. My husband has grey in his hair. I'm no longer skinny. Last week I woke up and my husband's face was inches from mine.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

I covered my mouth, trying to hide my morning breath. He reached down and kissed my face.

"What I do every morning," he said.

He leaves in the early hours of the morning while I sleep. I miss our morning conversations, but I had not realized that he continued to tell me that he loved me even while I slept. When he left, I rolled over and hugged my pillow. I envisioned the picture of me lightly snoring with my mouth open and giggled.

What a man! My husband understands my past. He's been beside me as I've grown from an unsure young girl to a confident woman, mother, speaker and author.

But I'm not sure that he understands the part he played in that transition. The words I heard growing up pierced my soul, yet his words pierced even deeper.

This Anniversary Day I plan to wake early. I want to tell Richard how much I love him. He may look in the mirror and see an extra pound or two, or wish for the day when his hair was dark and curly, but all I'll see is the man who saw something in me when I couldn't see it myself, and who leaves butterfly kisses, even after twenty-three years of marriage.

（來源：精品學習論壇  英語點津姍姍編輯）