You can never say "Thank You" to often...

She wiped the morning drool from the corners of my mouth.

"Thank you," I said.

She helped me sit up and get comfortable in bed.

"Thank you."

She turned on the television and served fresh coffee with a straw.

"Thank you."

Afterwards, she brushed my teeth, shaved and washed my face, combed my hair, and changed my shirt.

"Thank you."

She gave me my morning medicine.

"Thank you."

She flipped me on my side, so I could rest my back – prevent bedsores.

"Thank you."

She woke me up sometime later for my first stomach tube feeding of the day.

"Thank you."

She flushed my stomach tube with freshwater and changed my bandages.

"Thank you," I said.

"You say, 'Thank You' too much. You don't have to say Thank You all the time," she said.

"Why? I'm really thankful, so I say 'Thank You'... Does it bother you?" I asked.

I started to think about this... I do say THANK YOU quite frequently throughout the day, every day. Here it is, before 9 AM and I have already said this phrase at least 10 times!

"You don't have to thank me. I do things for you because I love you."

Of course, this was a wonderful answer to get from my wife of 30 years and my primary caregiver. However, I wondered if love is enough. I wanted to be sure that she understood how grateful I am to have her care and love every day... I was taught from a very young age to always be polite – to say, please, and thank you. It's a habit now. I wondered if I said, "Thank You" too often that the grateful feeling would be somehow diluted. I kept track for the next couple of days – turns out I average about 63 "Thank You's" per day!

No wonder she was getting tired of hearing those words, but I wasn't going to stop. So, I started to mix it up – started to say "Thank You" in different ways. With a smile, with a wink of my eyes, the click of my tongue, a positive attitude... I started to say this very important phrase in different languages – arigato, gamsahabnida, mahalo, gracias, merci, danke... It works! She knows how grateful I feel.

You can never say "Thank You" to often.