My personal philosophy of life is to be grateful and appreciative in all things because my mother was the opposite of that. I never miss the chance to thank or compliment someone, particularly my husband, whom I adore.
However, he grew up with a mother who wasn’t negative, she just absolutely didn’t care and he might as well have been invisible. She bragged about propping him in the corner as a baby and leaving him.
So he needs verbal validation, which I am happy to give, but he doesn’t know how to give it. Thankfully, he is never negative, so his actions can always speak for him.