There are many different ways to express romantic love. Each person is unique, and so is their significant other. But, there are some gestures that have been proven to work time and again. Flowers, chocolates, and cheap promise rings make a good combination. A mixtape playing in the background can help set the mood, too.
Even the tiniest actions, when done in the name of love, are likely to be appreciated. There are some individuals, however, who have gone above and beyond to express their love.
Finding Beauty in Grief
The Taj Mahal, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, is a mausoleum known for its beautiful marble architecture. What people may not know about the site is that it’s a physical manifestation of the grief that Mughal emperor Shah Jahan experienced when he lost his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, after she gave birth to his 14th child.
It took decades for the structure to reach completion. Now, at the heart of the structure are two cenotaphs representing the final resting place of the married couple. Their real sarcophagi are located in a quiet room at the garden level.
Flowers for My Valentine
Joe DiMaggio was known for many things. His many achievements as a baseball player, for one. Another is his lifelong devotion to American actress Marilyn Monroe.
A high-profile couple, DiMaggio and Monroe were married for less than a year. To be exact, 274 days after saying “I do,” they got divorced. However, their short stint in matrimony did not represent the gravity of DiMaggio’s affections for Monroe.
In 1962, Monroe passed away. DiMaggio was the one who arranged for the funeral. For the next two decades, DiMaggio arranged for red roses to be sent to her grave.
The King Without a Crown
Love makes people do crazy things. Hence, the existence of the question “What are you willing to give up for the person you love?”
Edward VIII, who became King of England in 1936, relinquished his power and throne for the woman whom he was deeply in love with, Wallis Simpson. Their love wasn’t without controversy. Simpson was an American woman who was married at the time of their meeting.
Many painted her as a manipulative seductress out to ruin the crown. The people were outraged when their affair came to light, and Edward VIII chose to abdicate the crown to spend the rest of his life with Simpson in France.
I Built a Garden for Us
Even the Ancient World has its own set of Wonders, one of which is the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. It is believed that Amytis of Media received the gardens as a gift from her husband, King Nebuchadnezzar II.
Media was home to sprawling forests and mountains, which is why Amytis had difficulty adjusting to the desert life in Babylon. To help cure her of her homesickness, the King supposedly had a land that was hundreds of meters wide filled with all kinds of exotic plants and flowers. It was his way of giving her a small piece of her greener home.
Gestures as grand as these show the power of love. However, it doesn’t mean that smaller acts of love are inconsequential. As long as people do it with love and affection in mind, any gesture can feel as big as the ones remembered by history.
