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While enjoying some sunshine on one of Kenya’s Coastal beaches recently, I saw a couple walking down the beach. They were obviously on holiday. The woman wore a beautiful dress. She had a flower in her hair. She had made an effort to look beautiful. Her partner looked good too.

They both looked good separately, but together, they didn’t paint the picture of a couple in love. They didn’t hold hands or touch in any way. The woman was talking calmly, but her man looked preoccupied. It was almost as if the beautiful woman wasn’t by his side and the beautiful beach didn’t exist.

When they had to negotiate a barrier on their path, none of them helped the other. The handsome man negotiated the barrier and kept on walking, while his bae negotiated the barrier on her own.

In my view, this beautiful couple were missing out on sharing a beautiful moment. They could have walked down the beach hand in hand. They could have listened to each other’s stories. The woman could have said, ‘You look so handsome in that linen shirt my love.’ And the gentleman could have said, ‘You look amazing, my beautiful lady in red.’

This moment would have been a beautiful time for both of them. The red dress, the linen shirt, the beach, the holiday wouldn’t have been wasted.

Of course, it is possible that perhaps they had just had a fight. Or the guy was thinking about work. Or the woman may not have been as calm as she looked. At the same time, it made me wonder if we usually take our love, our lovers and our romantic moments for granted.

When you reflect on your love life, do you take every opportunity to give and receive love? Do you appreciate the moments of love that you share with your partner?

When your spouse does something nice for you, do you appreciate it? Are you grateful for all the times he/she stood by you, gave you their love, affection and effort? Do you thank them for all the cold nights when they keep your bed warm? While sitting with them, are you more concerned about the friends on social media on your phone, or the TV, or do you give them some focused attention as well?

Do you make a point to do for them the little things that make you special in their eyes?

A widower and a widow once said to me, on separate occasions, using different words that meant the same thing. They said “I wish I had appreciated him/her more. I wish I had enjoyed it more. I wish I could get another opportunity to hold him/her one more time.”