It’s not Valentine’s Day, but for some reason got to pondering (& pontificating) about love, that word that sometimes stands us on our heads.
Love is a funny thing.
We think we want it, but all the work that goes in it, not so much.
Because love is about commitment. Not just butterflies in our tummies and hormone rushes, but the decision to love day in and day out.
Washing up together, forever? Through tough stains, crusted plates, and cracks that come. Perhaps a few shattered glasses?
Love continues despite it all – mending, tending, fending for one another. At times sparkling, at other times barely holding on.
Love keeps working at it, despite the strains that inevitably come.
Love keeps trying: making an effort, taking initiative, offering sponges of forgiveness when needed (and necessary.)
Love is not always easy, not by a long shot.
Letting go of me to become we.
But love, funny thing that it is, makes the world of our hearts go around and around. And keeps it spinning through ups and downs.
Love can take us to the highest peaks of our miserly existence, filling us with a sparkling joy that inspires, ignites and empowers us to do and be more, more, more.
For others. For ourselves. For Love.
Love can also leave us desolate and despairing when our loved ones are gone.
But joy, the joy of loving and being loved, this joy is a spark that makes life worth living. A spark that keeps our hearts alive in the afterglow when distant memories fill the treasure chests of our lives.
Love is a funny thing. It is. Indeed.
Pass that next dish. I’ll get the soap, you do the rinse.
grace, peace & washing-up (forever) love
Virginia : )
p.s. My parents were married 58 years before Papa passed, suffering 25+ of those years from a debilitating disease that left him a bedfast quadriplegic. Mama looked after him tirelessly. Papa called her his ‘care lover.’ You wouldn’t believe how mushy they could get, whispering sweet everythings to each other, not realizing just how loud their ‘whispers’ had become (heard clearly by minion daughter at the other end of the house during my caregiving gig.) Mama passed a year and a few months after Papa, but the legacy of their love lives on in the treasure chests of our hearts and lives.
Roses in the Rubble 
Beautiful. Even this word does not truly express the depth but what lovely memories to be treasured and now shared. Beautiful!
Sue, there’s a big hole in my heart missing my parents but it’s filled with memories of their love that goes deep, deep. Blessings & lots of 💜✨💜!
So well said … ❤️ u Sis!
Hey Cin, grateful for your ‘washing up love’ (literally) during Papa’s final illness. Love you so much, too!✨💜🌷💜✨
Beautiful story. Oh that kind of love is a treasure- for your parents-and you!
Thanks, Michele. My parents’ love keeps sparkling in our minds & hearts. I can hear my Papa so clearly telling my Mama, ‘Ginny Woodward, have I told you how much I love you today?’ She would blush & hold his hand. (This after 50 yrs of marriage!) Hugs! 💜💕💜
that is a love story worth writing about. Virginia, I am just so happy you have that to remember. love Michele
Thank you, I cried while reading your post,,,beautiful and true..
Carol-Jo, have to confess I get a little teary-eyed sometimes missing Mama & Papa (& sometimes a little impatient waiting for that certain someone to clobber with that washing up together forever kind of love!) 💜😆💜🤗💜💦💜
This is so moving Virginia. One of your best!
Edie, that’s means so much. Thank you! Lots of love to you ✨💕💜💕✨
Good share Virginia! True love is not about the romantic love but all the love; the good, the bad and the ugly – what sustains and becomes precious is indeed true love and your parents are special to have this. Blessings and Happy Friday to you and your loved ones.
Garfield Hug – true love does indeed include tough love which is why it can be a funny thing sometimes (contraindicated to mushy romantic sentiment.) My parents certainly demonstrated true love thru tough times – an inspiring treasure still sparkling in our hearts. Hugs to you & your loved ones! 💕🤗💜🤗💕
Yes indeed!!💕💕🐾🐾
This is so beautifully expressed, Sis! Brings tears to my eyes, and warmth to my heart… Thank you for this gift to treasure…putting into lovely and inspiring words those things that mean so much to us… hugs to you! 💕
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Big hugs to you, Sis! You & Woody have demonstrated this kind of love thru your 39 years of marriage. (Not sure how much washing up Woody has actually done in all that time, but he’s sure still doing back flips over you!) LoL! Love you!💕💜🤗💜💕
Lovely
Thank you, Sarah. My Papa often said about my Mama, ‘isn’t she lovely?’ (One of their favorite movies was My Fair Lady, methinks he got it from Professor Higgins.) 💐💜💐
One of my favorite lines: Letting go of me to become we.
Tim – that’s one of the hardest challenges: laying down our selves for one another, yet finding our new selves in the process? ( hopefully our better selves?) Blessings! ✨💜🌷💜✨
Awwww. I love you!
Elva, the feeling is mutual. Lots of love back at ‘cha! ✨💕💜💕✨
It is posts like this one that makes me wish there was a love button I could press to express the depth of my appreciation for the words you shared.
Bernadette – thank you, that means so much! You inspire me likewise with your posts (still a little teary-eyed over Moira) & with the example of you. Full stop. Lots of ✨💜💐💜✨
So beautifully said…. and your parents love is one that stood the test of time… Diane
Thank you, Diane. My parents had a few hysterical moments, too. Back when Papa was healthy (& we were 5 little terrors) Mama once threw jelly at him. He said he knew she loved him because she missed (& she always had good aim!) Family lore they later chuckled over (‘remember the jelly?’) but now part of our treasure chests. ✨💜✨
What a lovely, loving legacy your parents left you, Virginia! I sometimes wonder if folks in our parents’ generation were somehow better equipped for long-term love than those in the generations behind them. Perhaps they were more tolerant, less inclined to turn away when the mood struck. Perhaps they were just more determined to stay together, for better or worse!
Maybe our parents’ generation did see things differently, Debbie. In their latter years an interviewer asked Mama why she stayed with Papa thru his paraplegia? She looked perplexed, then responded, “I made a vow – in sickness and in health.”✨💜✨💕
Wow! So beautifully put!
Thank you. Methinks seeing our reflection in the eyes of our beloved ones can make us feel – and be – beautiful. Blessings! ✨💜🌷💜💐💜✨
What a super fantastic post. Each word seems placed just right before the next. I liked it so much, and because I deeply believe in love being all there is, I read your prose over several times. Touching, and completely spot on. It’s not the 4th of July neither, but If anyone asks…I will swear I felt firecrackers going off in my heart. Thanks for sharing!!!
Love it – firecrackers going off in your heart! ✨💓✨Thank you, Sparky Jen. May love empower us to be free to be all we’re meant to be as me, or we, or me AND we! (And we can pray for firecracker love when Singleton blues hit..) Blessings!! ✨🎤💜🎤✨
Alrighty then. Blessings right back!