News

Matt Chase for the New York Times

In a piece for Valentine's Day, the New York Times polled experts about 'unofficial love languages.'

Emily D. Crews, Executive Director of the Martin Marty Center for the Public Understanding of Religion, weighed in, sharing a personal anecdote: 

"For example, Dr. Crews inherited two dolls from her grandmother that have “eyes that seem to follow you wherever you go.”

They are not shoved into a closet but prominently displayed — even though her husband admits that he “hates Harriet and Mischka,’” she said. “He calls them ‘the murder dolls.’”Research suggests that the objects we hold close, she said, “are fundamentally part of how we understand the world and our place in it.”

The same is true of the rocking chair Dr. Crews’s husband inherited from his mother. “It doesn’t fit our style, and it takes up precious space in our house,” she said. “But it’s part of his family’s story, so it stays.”"

Read the full story: 5 Unofficial Love Languages