Growing in Love

It's springtime again, which reminds me that every person born on this earth is born with a desire for love. It’s an innate desire and a gift from God to experience true love for someone and have them in turn truly love you back. Let’s face it, what could be better than that feeling of “falling in love”!

Both of my daughters fell in love not too long ago and they both got married. One was married in 2017 and her sister a year later in 2018. It was easy to see that they were in love with their fiancés before they were married, but now that they have been married for a little while, I am so happy to see that their love is stronger than ever. Watching their love grow reminds me of my own relationship.

On Friday of last week, I took my wife back to the Newport Diagnostic Center for a second Mammogram. The first mammogram turned up something suspicious and although she said it was probably nothing, the doctor still wanted a recheck done. As she got out of the car, I had this overwhelming feeling of “being in love” with her. I don’t know how to explain it, but as I watched her walk away from the car, I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. She is so beautiful and so precious to me! My heart pounded and my knuckles turned white as I gripped the steering wheel way too tight. I’m not sure what was happening, but we’ve been through so much the past 25 years, so many good times, so many difficult times, but always striving to take our relationship to the next level. Maybe it’s because I almost lost her when she had a serious lung disorder that I appreciate her so much. But I know that coming close to losing her is actually only one small part of it. The main reason our love keeps growing is because we work hard to strengthen it, every single day. In fact, we both have several banker’s boxes filled with hundreds of love notes and cards that we’ve given each other over time. Small little reminders that our love is a gift that is not to be taken for granted.

I can’t really explain the secret to growing in love, I just know that you have to work at it every single day. You have to wake up thinking, “What can I do to make this person’s life better today?” You have to put your own needs on hold at times and show that you care more about the other person than yourself. Write them a love note, tell them how you feel, or maybe even buy them a stupid coffee mug! Wait…. I just realized the answer! What could be better than falling in love… Growing in love!

Gravity is not the reason people fall in love.

~ Albert Einstein