LOVE Defined
No matter how you define it, LOVE is a driving force in human behavior. Just the mere mention of the word has created relationships that have lasted a lifetime and made the cold-footed dodo run for extinction instead of face a committed relationship. Some people have a hard time dropping the “L” word for fear it comes with more strings than grandma’s mop. Other people use the word “Love” as if it were a simple sign of friendship. “I love you man!” Much of this blushing banter comes after a few fruity cocktails. I have found that Love is a pretty important word. I understand why many use it sparingly. And maybe they should. Or have we put too much weight on this flowery four letter word? In Erich Segal’s book and movie Love Story, he coined the phrase, “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” I gotta tell you, that might have been applicable in that instance, but I am going to go out on a limb and say most people in love better know how to say they are sorry. Human beings are not perfect and neither is Love. Victor Hugo wrote, “The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved; loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves.” So true Victor. Love can be anything you want it to be. A simple friendship or a fiery romance. Love is fickle, Love builds us up and tears us down. It fills the heart with warmth one minute and breaks it the next. Love is sometimes unpredictable. And that is not what we want from Love. We want a pillar of Love, not a heart shaped Jello mould. I have loved and lost. And am a better person as the old saying goes. A great quote from the movie When Harry Met Sally, “When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.” Those of you who have been in love know this feeling. I hope everyone gets a chance to feel this way at least once in your life. It, for me, is Love Defined. You aren’t sure what will come, but you are willing to face it together. Love is a commitment to hold hands and see what is around the corner, down the road. Love is a ride with bumps and turns and a few crashes perhaps. But Love is waking up the next day together and getting back at it. No it’s not perfect. And maybe that’s why Love is so desirable. The mystery. The make-ups. The moments you realize there is some meaning to life. I Love my family. I Love golf. I Love old movies. I Love walking in the woods. But most of all I Love the fact that I Love so many people and they Love me. Maybe it’s corny. Maybe it’s trite. Maybe it’s just that I like the challenge and security Love offers. The benefits Love gives is up to the person who allows Love in their lives. A.A. Milne of Winnie-the- Pooh fame wrote “If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day so I never have to live without you.”
On February 18th, my daughter Stephanie will wed John Hunt. I hope their Love will help them find the happiest of lives together in their Hundred Acre Wood.
With Much Love, J.B. Lester; Publisher