Thoughts on Love

"Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own."
---Robert A Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land

"The opposite of love is not hate; it is indifference."
---Elie Wiesel

I believe that love must be tended like a flower garden and shared with as many people as possible.

When I was a senior in high school, I met John, the love of my life. A year later we were married. Together we raised three children, who are now raising their own families. Their happiness means everything to me.

When I was seven, my brother entered my life. I wasn't indifferent to him, but he was a definite interloper.Over the years, as our lives have grown more parallel and the difference in our age is negligible, we have come to rely on and appreciate the mutual support we have to offer one another.

My parents are both gone now, but my love for them has not dimmed with the passing years but has grown stronger. and this has made me stronger.

Love takes many forms, which I feel is why so much has been written about it, and why it continues to puzzle us.

Of this I am certain--whiteout love I would be nothing.

Happy Valentine's Day, friends.