What Is Love

Love is one of those little four letter words that, for some, is so hard to define.  Some people live a lifetime without giving it, feeling it, or seeing it.  In some households it is an everyday spoken phrase "I love you".  In other households it is rarely spoken.

I must admit, saying "I love you" with regularity in my life has been hard to come by.  Growing up, it was rarely said and seldom heard, but you knew it was there. Once you have gotten married, then have children, the day to day pace in life picks up with great speed, and sometimes you just get out of the habit of saying "I love you". 

You must first understand what these words mean.  When you come in from an extended trip and your dog jumps into your lap and licks you nonstop for five minutes, that is "I love you".  When your child crawls up into your lap and doses off, that is "I love you".  I have not mastered it yet, but I'm trying to get better.

I have had a great teacher. As I look back on our life together, the signs were all there.   When I asked LaNelle to marry me and she said yes, that was "I love you".  When she said "I do" at the alter, that was I love you.  The first time we saw our first born, that was "I love you". 

Now, laying in bed holding each other is "I love you".  Sitting together quietly on a streetcar, taking in the sights is "I love you".  Letting her pick the next activity or restaurant is "I love you".

It has taken me thirty years to discover that "I love you" is not just three words.  It is a lifetime commitment to the one you call your partner.  It is an act that is unconditional.  There will be bad and worse times, but in the end, you have each other. 


To my darling wife, I love you!