Is Love Really Forever?

We take so much for granted, don’t we? On Facebook yesterday, I re-posted what someone else said about Grandmas making each grandchild feel that he or she was her favorite. Two of my nieces commented that was how my mom, their grandmother, made them feel. And, I agreed. Yes, she loved each grandchild for his or her individuality, uniqueness and just because they were hers. She made us children feel the same way too, special. When I was a child, I used to feel sorry for other children who were not able to call my parents theirs. I never wanted anyone different from Mom and Dad. I wish I could tell them thank you. I wish there were some special way to honor them. I wish I had not taken their love for granted.

With Valentine’s Day coming up Sunday, much is being said and written about love. Sadly, I’m afraid that word sometimes has been perverted to mean something else. Same with romance. To me, the greatest romance is the lasting love between a man and a woman that endures sickness, wealth, good times and bad, failures and successes. Romance is the background music to lasting love. I Corinthians 13 has a lot to say about love. It is kind, not boastful or proud, endures many things. Without it, our words and deeds are empty and meaningless.

Something else about love–it puts other people’s needs, feelings, and wants above its own. My parents’ lives were lives of sacrifice. The needs of children and grandchildren came before their own. But, amazingly, they didn’t count this as a hardship. They wanted to give to us. I think, for them, giving was a blessing.

So yes, Mom and Dad too, loved their children and grandchildren. I don’t think any of us realized how much until we became parents and grandparents with little ones of our own. Here is the amazing thing I’ve noticed with my brothers and sister, my nieces and nephews, and my son. We try to emulate the kind of love we grew up with. I guess that’s the best way to honor that special couple we called Mom and Dad or Grandma and Grandpa. In loving others, we are saying thank you. We are honoring the way they made us feel special. That kind of love goes on forever.