What Is Love?

“If I know what love is, it is because of you.” – Hermann Hesse

Until someone or something takes away your breath and fills you with blinding joy and terrifying awe you do not know love.

Those butterflies in the stomach, the electricity at the first touch.  The longing for their laughter, the leaping of your heart at their smile.  These are all early stages of love but are not yet love.

But then when you hold their hand in the dark times, when they lean on you in the rough patches you start to know.  Or when they give you the moments of pure joy, like when you hold your baby for the first time or when they have a car accident and you fear you’ve lost them followed by that euphoric moment of knowing they are ok.

When they take care of you through the cancer or the losses you can’t describe.  This is when you know, when it is past the honeymoon phase and things are not fun and easy but they are still there with you and pour themselves into you in your time of need.

In adversity the true affection appears.

Yes, the early Spring of infatuation is bright and beautiful but the depths of love are only discovered in the storms and droughts and difficulties.  When they are there in sickness, and the bad times, and they still look at you with that glow in their eyes, that is when you know love.