My husband tells me he loves me, and he thinks I’m pretty (hardly ever beautiful – just “pretty”). Dandelions are “pretty” but roses are beautiful. There is a glaring difference.

And my husband NEVER speaks highly of me to anyone else. If someone compliments me in any way, not just physical, but even if they like a program I ran or a song or wrote or whatever, he never comments. He just kind of makes this weird shy, won’t look you in the eye kind of half smile face. I believe this is because he’s horribly embarrassed of me.

I’ve also noticed that other women catch his attention in a way I never could. I expect him to notice beautiful women, but I wish he’d notice me, too. He says he does, but of course he’s gonna say that, and I’ve never seen it. Like, ever.

And if someone truly loves you, doesn’t that make you more attractive in their eyes? So while he rattles off the “right things” to say to me, his actions shout louder to me what his true feelings really are. I know, to him, I am not beautiful.

The worst part is, he says he doesn’t like it when I get down on myself. Well, I would think most women in my situation would have a hard time feeling beautiful, especially if the man they loved could not find any beauty in her whatsoever.