My poor wife, we stopped on the way back to the suite after our

Howie Long, with humor clothed in humility, once confessed: “My poor wife, we stopped on the way back to the suite after our wedding reception so I could pick up a jar of peanut butter and a loaf of bread. I mean, I’m not a real exciting guy.” In these words lies more than jest — it is the revelation that love is not always adorned with grandeur, but is often woven into the fabric of the ordinary. The wedding, though a day of splendor, soon gave way to the simple needs of life, and in that simplicity rests a kind of truth.

The ancients, too, knew that greatness is not found only in spectacle. They taught that the most enduring unions were not built on banquets or gold, but on daily acts of care and the ability to find joy in humble things. To pause after a wedding reception for food as common as bread is not folly, but honesty — a reminder that even the most celebrated moments are lived out in the company of ordinary human hungers.

History offers a tender echo in the story of Dwight D. Eisenhower, who, on his wedding day, chose a modest ceremony and afterward went with his bride Mamie to share a simple meal rather than a lavish feast. Though he would one day command armies and nations, his marriage began in the quiet strength of humility. Like Howie Long’s tale, this teaches that what sustains love is not extravagance but the ability to cherish life’s most unassuming rituals.

Howie’s words also carry a deeper wisdom about character. In confessing, “I’m not a real exciting guy,” he reveals that marriage does not require one to be larger-than-life, but simply authentic. The wife who walks beside him is not honored by glittering gestures alone, but by the trust and truth of his being. Love, after all, endures not because of endless excitement, but because of shared moments — even those involving nothing more than peanut butter and bread.

Let the generations remember: a marriage is not sustained by spectacle, but by the sacredness of the everyday. To share food, to laugh at one’s own simplicity, to place humility above pride — these are the true foundations of joy. As Howie Long teaches, love does not falter when the ordinary intrudes upon the extraordinary; rather, it is strengthened, for it learns to delight in both.