As Thanksgiving ends and the holiday season begins, I’m giving thanks for love. Love is one of those things that is difficult to define, but just about everyone understands what love is. Love comes in many forms. There’s the way you love your kids. There’s young love, mature love, the way you love your kids or parents, even that first crush.
I’ve heard that love is like a warm blanket, when it’s right, you never want to be cold again.. I’ve also heard that, if you wish to be loved, first love. One of my favorite comments from my daughter, Grace, was from her classroom Father’s Day program last year. The kids were asked to say why they loved their daddies. Rather than list out the things that we do together or that I do for her, she simply stated that she loved me because I love her. Can she define or describe love? Not really, but she understands that her mommy and daddy love her unconditionally.
I took the photo above when I was in Chile last April. This was my first trip with my DSLR and I was still learning about the features, but despite my lack of skill, this photo captures the essence of young love. In Chile, it is very common to find young people making out on park benches. Since they typically live at home until after college, the time on the park bench is likely the only time they have “alone”. It’s funny how love is represented in other cultures while, in its essence, remaining just the same.
Are you giving thanks for love? How do you look at love? Have you had experience viewing love in other cultures? Share your story and make sure you follow along and see what else I’m giving thanks for.
beautiful quote and photo! thank you and I hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful!
Nowadays people throw around the word love very carelessly; “I love these cookies” or “I love this new app on my mobile phone”. It makes the word lose all meaning when you tell your wife you love her and then three seconds later are gushing about how much you love the new water hose you just bought.
Luckily for me, I understand love for many different meaning’s and situation’s. Yes, I have definitely experienced love, but unfortunately, that love sometimes isn’t enough, no matter what you do. I tend to “wear my heart on my sleeve” as I’ve heard many people say, and personally for me, I think of that almost like sometimes people would view a curse, no lie. For me, that’s a weak point in my life. Now, when I express my love for my children, it is of a unconditional love that will never lessen only grow with time, at least that’s what I think. So, love is essential in our lives at some point in time, if not always, just have to have and experience it and appreciate it the right way.
I am so thankful for my loving family and I show them love every day. Hope you had a great Thanksgiving.
My daughter Olivia Grace was the first person in the world I ever loved. She taught me what it was to give love, be loved and truly feel it all. While I was in my late twenties before I ever felt this emotion, it wasn’t too late to change me. I like to say that I gave birth to Olivia, but in so many ways she gave me life. I can’t imagine going through the rest of my life never having known it….
In memory of Olivia
1992-2004
I’m so grateful for my husband, he is so wonderful and he lives thousands of miles away in Honduras. We are living apart because he is not a citizen of the US and they won’t let him come without a visa. It’s very difficult to get a visa because he is not a wealthy man. We talk almost every day while we are working on the process of bringing him home, but i miss him so much and I think our love just gets stronger because of the struggle.