Practical Love

True Love gets a lot of fanfare on tv and movies. This notion that there is this ONE person out in a world of 7 billion people that is right for you, is such a romantic ideal. But for someone like myself who occasionally plays the Power Ball, with romantic ideas about becoming rich, I have come to realize the absurdity of the odds. If there is only one person for you then it is actually very tragic. I think it could also be very magical, if you are lucky like I am to have come together, against all odds, with the most beautiful, talented compliment to myself-my wife, Cory. We have been together for about 25 years now. Crazy. Wonderful. But as I watch my Mom who, after the death of my Dad, was able to fall in love again, I know that true Love is not about that ONE person. It is, however, about one person. That person is you. True Love resides within. Love must be cultivated. You water it. Feed it. Nurture it within yourself so that you can let it expand outside of yourself. That Lo...

Genevieve was being a grump. She was tired. Well she should have been, it was bedtime. Bedtime is always a struggle. I don't think my own parents would disagree with that. With seven kids, bedtime must have been torturous. Well, getting the girls to bed sometimes involves screaming (us at them) and sometimes I just grab them by the hand and walk them upstairs and step them through the process. This was not one of the hand holding nights. After fighting to get them upstairs, immediately we hear Genevieve screaming and crying. She was hurt. So we quickly run up the stairs, "What happened?" we exclaim. Only screams and crying could come out. "WHAT HAPPENED?" we say a little louder, as if that could jolt the explanation out over the tears. I suddenly had a flash! It was a memory, a feeling. I still cannot tell whether it was a memory of my Dad or my Mom or a combination of both. Empathy. My voice got higher as my body got lower to the ground. At her level, I c...