♥

“When you talk about love, it seems to me that you’re talking about all that romantic stuff – stomach churning like you’re on a rollercoaster ride, moonlight and roses and all that. But real, married love is something else. It’s the deepest friendship of your life. It’s the safest place you know – it’s the home of your heart. It is where you are utterly yourself and completely loved, and in return you offer love, tolerance, respect and trust, Yes, it is an enormous task, and many, many marriages are not lived that way and never can be, and they won’t last, but it’s what you must aim for, or what’s the point? Those things – love, trust and respect - don’t just come from your emotions, the fickle feelings of desiring someone, or feeling cross or tired, or excited. It comes from your will because you can make yourself love someone – and believe me, there are times when you have to work very hard to keep on loving, when things are difficult and money is tight or when the other person is behaving like a mule – and from your heart, because that’s where your goodness resides.

“The initial feelings associated with love were almost like an ocean wave in their intensity, acting as the magnetic force that drew two people together. It was possible to be washed away in the emotion, but the wave wouldn’t last forever. It couldn’t- nor was it meant to be- but if two people were right for each other, a truer kind of love could last forever in it’s wake. In the end, it’s worked out because we both want it to. As long as you two have that, you’ll be able to make it through anything.