Life is full of unexpected sparks of realization and fleeting moments of clarity. These precious instances are not always manifestations of our own doing. The catalyst for these special moments can be inspired by another. Three simple words someone uttered sent me down a completely unexplored path, “Love loves you”. I asked them to repeat it because I thought I misunderstood. Love loves me? My family loves me; my dog loves me, close friends even, but love? Is Love even capable of altering its form and make the transition from verb to noun? Love, the answer to so many prayers of hope, yet its unseen except for the effects of its presence or aftermath of its absence. Love loves me. I started playing around with the thought, examining it from every angle to better understand. I got up close and then backed away again to get an overall picture. Still wasn’t sold on the authenticity of the statement. Then I decided to try a different tact, I stopped thinking and analyzing which I do far too much and I decided to see how the words felt. Truthfully, they felt so right.
For years I’d played a perverted game of Hide and Seek with love. I always hid and refused to come out even when Love’s pleas became desperate for me to return. Yet, love never tired of me and would join in all my twisted ego games enthusiastically. When I walked out the door and would leave for months, sometimes even years, Love always greeted me with no hesitation in a full welcoming embrace. No matter how callously I treated Love, no matter how many times I cursed it, swore I was through with it and accused it of being unfair Love always sought me out. When I was ashamed to be seen in public with Love and claim it was my own and acted as if I’d forgotten its name, Love always waited patiently without malice to accept and comfort me. Now I understand Love will always love me no matter my transgressions, however it doesn’t make it right to mistreat or disrespect it. Knowing what I now know about Love, it makes it less terrifying to say goodbye. When Love loves you there is never a final goodbye only a series of expected hellos. Yes, Love surely loves me and I’m certain Love loves all of you too, no matter the circumstances.
