Decadent  chocolates, diamond bracelets, elaborate valentines cards.   Young  lovers gazing  into each other’s eyes, dreaming of the perfect  love.
A beautiful reminder that in a troubled world, that somehow, somewhere, there is always  love.
But these images offer only  a shallow glimpse of  love. Oddly,  we  equate love with young love, with “being in love,”  while overlooking
Old love has seen  glory and brokenness,  trust and  betrayal.  It has known exhilaration and endured  tedium. It has yielded to  the warm
embrace and recoiled at the jagged  word.  Through it all, it was always  love that  soothed  the chafing of the marital yoke.
The beauty of old love is not that of  the unfurling rosebud.
And old love is not  merely  finishing the race side by side.  Such is
Old love is longing for the other and yet  straining against the marital tether.  It is knowing everything yet
So to all  young lovers this Valentine’s Day:  Join  us if you will.  But know this:  Old love must be earned.  It will test your  strength and challenge your resolve. It will require your best and forgive your worst.  It will plumb your depths and expand your soul.  And  the rewards are beyond imagination for those who  stay the course. Â
This blog is dedicated to my “old love” of 40 years. Â Happy Valentines Day, Sweetheart.Â