Last night while asleep in our bed my husband let out a startled moan. I then felt his hand patting the comforter – searching for me. It came to rest once it found my side.

I realized I LOVE that:

• Despite the fact he is a 28-year-old, dirty hand working, beer drinking, beard growing man;
• Despite the fact he sleeps with a baseball bat beside him because he knows it makes me feel safe;
• Despite the fact he served 5 years in the army which included one tour to Afghanistan;

I’M the one that protects him from bad dreams.

The comments from other redditors that followed were just as beautiful…

“As an Army Veteran myself (who suffers from severe PTSD) you have no idea how comforting it is for us. I apparently do the same thing in my sleep to my fiance. She absolutely loves that I feel safe in her arms and I do too! There have been several occasions (a few times a week) where she wakes up to my nightmares and she will lay on my chest and my night terror is gone instantly and my heart rate returns to normal. You are an amazing woman to be there for your husband in ways that many can’t be.”

“Had occasional night terrors during the first part of my marriage that came from my time in the Army. My wife healed me too. You can spend hours and thousands on therapy with the best minds trying to help you. You can search the world for relief. You can take a pharmacy of medicine to dull the pain. All I needed was to be the little spoon.”

“As someone who battles with PTSD I have complete confidence in my wife who helps me face this issue head on. It’s not only a battle with my inner self but a battle to be stable and positive role model for my kids and wife. It is hard and is always a struggle but my wife is the one who holds me when shit gets too tough for me to handle alone.”

“Mine does this too. He also has a tendency to whimper and grind his teeth. Stops immediately if I put my hand on his face. I think it’s adorable.”

“Once I fell asleep on the sofa and he couldn’t wake me up so he went to the bedroom on his own. He returned a few hours later and cuddled up to me on the sofa and immediately fell asleep. When we woke up he told me that in his sleep he searched for me under the covers. When he couldn’t find me, it felt like he was falling and his stomach sank. So he woke up and found me.”