What does Love look like?
On October 19
th
Susan and our daughter-in–law Megan Van Vleet were arriving at LAX back from doing a
Women Moving Forward®
workshop in Geneva, Switzerland. It was a tough flight with delays and bizarre passenger behavior that only added to the exhaustion of an already grueling flight. For even more stress Megan is pregnant with their first child (our first grandchild YEA!) making Megan even more tired.
Charlie and I arrive in separate cars to escort our respective spouses home. Susan and Megan show up at baggage claim and there is hugging and kissing and the regaling of stories of what was a harrowing journey home. Charlie pulls out a beautiful bouquet of flowers and gives them to Megan and she beams with approval from the expression of love.
Susan looks at me and we smile being in the presence of love of our kids. I then pointed out that Charlie brought flowers and I brought the
luggage cart
from outside. I said “well there’s the difference between a 7 year marriage and a 41 year marriage in a nutshell!” We all laughed and Susan said, “Yes, the last thing I need right now is another thing to carry and then take care of after being gone for 2 weeks!” She gives me the nod, you made the right call.
“Love” transitions through a continuum starting with teenage infatuation (purely hormones) to Romantic love (still a lot of hormones) to mature love (some hormones) but founded in:
-A pool of respect and appreciation for that person that you know so well.
-A bond of years of shared hardship and triumph.
-And an endless well appreciation you feel for sacrifices they have made for you like carrying your huge Van Vleet sons or recreating their business to include you when that was not the original design.
Don’t get me wrong I buy flowers too. It’s just good to know I get whether the cart or flowers are the right call!
As always we invite your comments.
