What is Love?

When people say, "I love you," it can mean oh so many things.  Today, we learned what one kind of love means.  Our children and their loved ones demonstrated a love that enveloped compassion, consideration, generosity,  and overwhelming thoughtfulness.  We gathered together to celebrate my mother's 99th birthday, and Father's Day.  We even threw in my girlfriend's birthday for good measure.  We had dinner, laughed, loved, enjoyed each other. We had cake and exchanged cards.  At the end of the celebrations, we sat down in the living room to visit and continue enjoying the after-dinner moments before everyone had to leave.  But there was one more surprise...one more act of generosity.  The family handed us a card that said, 'To Mom and Dad.'  What?  It wasn't MY birthday.  Why was I getting this?  I opened the card with Skip sitting next to me, looking over my shoulder.  How could I have forgotten another occasion soon to be celebrated by us?  Skip and I were going to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary in less than two months.  We had no plans to go anywhere or do anything.  We knew that we would have to put the celebration on hold or at least minimize what we might do to mark the occasion.  There was simply no money to spend of frivolity.  We were budgeting carefully these days.  Caring for Mom had taken its toll on our expenditures and our earning ability.  Even a night out was sometimes prohibitively expensive when one considered the cost of hiring a professional to be with Mom while we attended a dinner or another event.

The card held a surprise that we hadn't expected.  A roll of bills sat inside the card with the most lovely note one could ever get.  It wished us a happy anniversary and held an early anniversary present urging us to think about going somewhere together--to get away and just enjoy each other. The money was to help defray the cost of a sitter for Mom, to take the stress and worry out of being able to get away even if for just a couple of days.

I couldn't read the note out loud.  Tears filled my eyes.  Both Skip and I were so moved by the gift, the amazing thoughtfulness and understanding that we really, REALLY needed this. The note went on to thank us for exhibiting the meaning of commitment. The love they exhibited assured me that we have done a good job with our children.