Love is paying attention when someone talks. When you pay attention, it make gift giving infinitely easier. One of my husbands (yes, there’s been more than one) never had any inkling as to what gift to buy me for Christmas or holidays. We were married for 16 years and he never did figure it or me out.

One particularly memorable birthday, I requested a negligee. Are negligees still even around? Just in case, they are not, for you youngsters, a negligee is a fancy name for a nightgown, a fluffy, chic looking one. I was in my late twenties and something frilly and alluring sounded intriguing to me.

However, instead of something to pamper my frivolous desire, my ex bought me a set of pans. He thought my request was silly and impractical. Later on, he even prodded me and insisted that I should be grateful that he had the good sense to buy pans for me because they were useful.

Fortunately, both my sons are much better gift givers. Last week, I had a private dance lesson. My husband was mulling over coming with me, but he really did not want to, so I finally told him it was okay if he didn’t show up.

The lesson was great fun! My teacher was a nice young man who looked barely older than my oldest grandson. He was adorable. He had a great smile, was ultra patient and easy to follow. Lucky fellow only got his foot stepped on once.

For 45 minutes last week, I learned how to tango! The tango was my choice of dance; I thought that it sounded the most exciting. I loved it! The lesson was a blast, and I did much better than I thought that I might!

The dance lesson was a Christmas gift from my son Chris. Sometime in our chats, I remember mentioning that I loved to dance. However, I have never had a dance lesson of any kind. My type of dancing was self-taught.

Love is listening and giving a gift that someone will really enjoy. Love is knowing what someone would like because you care enough to listen and pay attention to really know them. Although Chris has only been in touch with me for five years, he does know me. He seems to understand me better than many people do because he is so much like me. Love is dance lessons because you know they will bring some pleasure to your birth mom!