Is Love An Idea

My youngest now enjoys sitting under my desk, with the heater blasting on him during our quiet time together in the mornings.  He looked over at a book I was reading and mention, "You know Mom, Creative is not  a verb, it is an adjective."  I stopped what I was writing, "Well, for this book it is."  He shrugged and continued playing as I wrote in the quiet.

"You know Mom," he said.

A small part of me was annoyed because I was mid thought and as you get older you have to hold onto any thought you can because one second of change and they are gone.  But I reminded myself that this was our time together, "Yeah?"

"Love isn't really a verb either.  I think Love is a noun.  It's an idea."

My fingers froze on the keyboard as I thought about this.  Is it an idea, and when you find this idea, what do you do with it?  Is it those ideas that come in one ear and out the other, life being too busy for you take time and let it take hold?  Am I doing that these mornings, should I stop what I am doing and sit with him?  Or is the fact of us sitting together enjoying the quiet of the morning enough?

Did my love for my husband start as an idea?  I remember the feelings when I first met him, the quickening of my heart, the always wanting to be together.  Were those just feelings or did I flesh out an idea as we built our lives together, one step at a time.

An idea is a thought or purpose as to a specific course of action.  And when we fall in love, we know that course, that we are building a life together complete with the times that are difficult.  You can be in love with idea or you can run with the idea - making it real with the hard work it takes to make things happen.

If love is an idea, ideas requires creativity.  You mind must not only be open but it must be active for love to survive.  And being in a creative moment means losing yourself to it, just like being in love requires you to lose yourself in it.

I love the idea of love.  There is so many ideas in love.
The idea to wrap your fingers around a child's hand because they quietly reached over to you.
The idea that sometimes sitting and saying nothing is better than giving any type of advice.
The idea to take a walk and cool off rather than speaking what is on your mind.
The idea to let go, say goodbye, and let them feel peace as they move on.

So if love started as an idea, it's a pretty damn good one, and one that I think we all need to carry on.

Do you think Love is a Idea?

Great Father's Day Idea!

Father's Day is approaching and most of us know that our Dad's pretty much have everything.  They really don't need another soap on a rope, tie, pen - why not take a moment and create a really special memory for them.  Write them a letter:  here's my example:

Dear Dad:

Happy Father's Day!  Here's my Top Ten List of things that make you great:

1.  Softball - I still can't believe you coached my team for all those years - every single practice - every single game.  Sure, I knew with my coordination my best spot was right field.  You told me to do what I do best and each and every time I hit the ball and it fell in the dirt in front of me - I did what I did best, I beat the throw to first base.  You made me a runner.

2.  Diary - that first diary you gave me for my birthday made an impact on my life.  It was my place to write about all the mean 8th grade girls, and who I wished would kiss me down to how jealous I was when my sister got the EZ Home Baker oven.   You made me a writer.

3.  Summertime - Every single summer down the ocean was special when you'd come for the weekend - 6am mornings of crabbing, fishing (your lucky coins were always in your pocket) -  I'd watch you body surf all day long in the water.  I got pretty good at body surfing - well, except for the one wave that scraped the left side of my face.  You made me go long.

4.  Superbowl parties - you little condo stuffed to the gills with people for our yearly superbowl party.  You didn't care about the look of things, you simply enjoyed spending time with family and a great football game.  You taught me to keep it simple, it's more enjoyable.

5.  Danny Boy - every party always included a request for you to sing Mother Macree or Danny Boy, and you never turned them down.  Party, event, funeral, wake you stood took a deep breath and belted it out.  You taught me they won't remember if you were on tune, just that you sang.

6.  Cadillac Jack - a great testament is when one of your coworkers says, "Jack can sell ice to Eskimos."  You'd take me with you when buying or selling a family car - I got how it was done.  You taught me perserverance.

7.  Christmas - your favorite holiday, over St. Patrick's Day, you loved giving gifts, especially the "mystery gift" and even when I was older and you still thought I wore a size 0, I loved you saw me that way and everything you have me.  You taught me it is better to give than to receive, the look on someone's face with the right gift is precious.

8.  Florida - our yearly drive to Florida was full of "slap fights" tape recorded Star Trek episodes, bags of candy and cheap hotels.  I'm not sure what I loved more the drive to Disney World or the actual theme park.  You taught me patience.

9.  Keno - we both played our birthdays in Keno and it was the year I was 31 and you were 65, I played 6/29/65 and you played 6/26/31 - we both hit for a dollar because of luck!  We played again and lost it all, oh well.  I learned to

10.  Kenotherapy - there were hard times when you were sick, and I watched you joke through them even when you were scared.  I was right there by your side, and through your battle I learned to be strong, to make the memory in the now, to tell people you love them before you can't.  What I wouldn't give to hear "Danny Boy" one more time.

Thanks for being a great Dad, and teaching all these important lessons.  Enjoy your day because you are special.  Love you Dad.

Kelly

What would you write in your letter, why not write it right now and give it them so you can see the joy on their face?