It started shortly after my wife and I were married. One day, as I was backing out of the driveway, I saw her standing on the porch. She mouthed the words, “I love you.” Without really thinking about it, I lifted up two fingers as if to indicate, “I love you too (2).” The hand signal stuck.

After that, we would periodically hold up the two fingers to simply say, “I love you.” Whether we secretly flashed each other the sign while sitting next to each other at church or while we were standing in line at the grocery store or when one of us was headed for work, the simple signal became a show of love and adoration between us.

Then, on vacation a couple of years ago, the signal took on a new meaning.