LOVE NEVER GETS TOO OLD OR TOO BEAUTIFUL!

As I mentioned yesterday, scanning old photos is a big job, if you look at it as work. I seem to get enmeshed with the memories, and I see these wonderful vignettes of my life, a life I shared with five other people in my family!

The original cast

It seems I fall in love again when I view the photos; they seem to remind me of those things I took for granted as a younger man. The wonderful innocence of my children growing up, the dependency of my wonderful wife and kids on me and each other and me on them, and the idea that there WAS so much love in our home. There always seemed to be a happy and trusting innocence that emanated from the lady I married. I tried very hard to be home on time, or within a reasonable hour to share those wonderful moments with her. I remember when my two oldest were 1 and 2 years old, and I would get home and they were already asleep, how disappointing that was.

#2 SON

I see a young wife, with our kids and she is always smiling, attentive to them, and they looked to her for their sense of joy. There is a vitality that only a mother who loves her children can bring. There is an occasional shot of me, but I through the years took the pictures. I see the kids growing up, mugging for the camera, or enjoying a vacation, a meal or someone’s company.

There are shots at Shea Stadium and the local ball field, a trip to Sesame Street or Disney, California or NYC, all enjoyed with TLW (The Little Woman) the center of the event, but the reason we are there was the children. I see a #1 Son enjoying a birthday party for #2 Son, the act of love of a big brother toward his little brother. I see #2 Son who interacts with his older sister as she carries the burden of a disability. I hear the laughter, the singing and joking, the teasing I got from them, and the teasing I gave back.

But the real reason we are there is because TLW never made it about her, never thought to lie to me, or trick me, or call me a name that wasn’t mine. She always trusted me, and still knows she can, and she lives for her children. It is a very simple recipe for love and life. You simply live for each other, you put yourself second, you do for the one who committed their life to you.

We can visit upon all the events that occur in our lives and sort them into ‘lucky’ and ‘unlucky’, but I think that is a mistake! I think if you are lucky enough to marry the right person, all that happens afterward can be dealt with because you are ‘lucky’ you have the right person to help you share the circumstance and deal with them.

Today, I look back and know that we (TLW) and I did some good, just like most of you did. I would recommend going back and looking at the old photos, and think of those times you and your spouse spent together, how wonderful and innocent those times were. I am a lucky man, I still love my wife and kids, and I would never change that, maybe things that occurred, but never the players. 

Love never gets too old or too beautiful.