Well, it’s here. Allergy season, I mean. And boy, has it come back with a vengeance.

I’ve been coughing for two weeks straight. Seriously coughing. Coughing so much that I think I’ve given myself a hernia (I’m only half-kidding).

The sinus congestion started five days ago. You know, because the coughing wasn’t enough fun on its own. I’ve Googled “Zyrtec D + cough medicine dangerous?” more times than I’d care to admit.

Don’t worry—my doctor has me on a safe regimen. ; )

I have this cute little dish on my dresser. It’s supposed to hold jewelry / hand lotion / other stuff I’m too lazy to put away immediately. This is what it looks like right now:

Anyway, enough complaining. This is really a post about marriage.

There’s a lot out there telling us about marriage and romance, don’t you think? Movies, advertisements, wedding magazines. We’re reminded time and time again how important romance is to a marriage.

“Send her flowers for no reason. It’s romantic!”

“Be sure to have date nights even after you have kids. You have to keep the romance alive.”

“Take a spontaneous weekend getaway. Nothing more romantic than running away together.”

All these ideas are wonderful, and romance is important. But can we talk about how sometimes romance doesn’t look like flowers or date night or a weekend getaway?

Over the weekend, my husband completely took over the housework so I could sleep in and take naps. We usually have a pretty even division of labor around here, but as soon as I picked up a dirty dish and turned on the faucet, he took over and said, “Go lie down for a bit.”

On Saturday, he washed the sheets and blanket and bathed the dog in an effort to reduce the allergens around here. Then he vacuumed.

I’d hoped to be feeling better by Sunday morning because I was supposed to be the lector at church. Unfortunately, I woke up in a fit of coughing that lasted 45 minutes. He called another lector to be sure I would have a replacement and could go back to sleep.

Then he took care of groceries and cooked a huge pot of jambalaya so we could survive on leftovers for a few days and I wouldn’t have to worry about cooking.

He even fought the crowds at Whole Foods to get me some of these. They are the last word in comfort.

Here’s to caring for your wife when she’s sick. Here’s to running unexpected errands and doing chores you don’t normally do so she can nap. Here’s to texting pictures of different kinds of bread because you have no idea what you’re doing at the grocery store but didn’t want her to have to get dressed and go anywhere.

Here’s to the romance that gets overlooked. Because that’s the kind of romance that really keeps marriages together.