The Sustenance of Love
Every day I look into my three-year-old daughters’ eyes with great optimism. I watch her grow, and I worry about raising her in today’s world. For me what makes having a family worthwhile, is love, and the sustaining power that love has and how it affects us. I find it wonderful how something so intangible has such an important role in our lives. I marvel at the dynamic between my wife, our daughter and me. I believe in the sustenance of love.
The love of my daughter sustains me. When I am feeling down, or I have had a bad day, I can always count on a pick-me-up from my little girl. I find it compelling that she just seems to know that I really could use a hug. After a recent fender bender, she came to me and gave me a hug. Then we had our routine of kisses. She starts out with a little peck on the cheek, then an Eskimo kiss (rubbing noses), and finally a butterfly kiss (the fluttering of eyelashes against the other’s eyelashes. She calls this “kisses, noses, and eyes’s”. My daughter did this all on her own with no prompting by my wife. My little girl just knew to give her daddy a hug and tell him it was going to be ok. My daughters love seems to have a healing affect. I believe in the sustenance of love.
The love of my wife sustains me. My wife has an almost identical effect on me. The effect is similar to what my daughter gives, yet different. The love of my life has given me a beautiful daughter, a feeling beyond description. After our losses from hurricane Katrina, our love grew stronger. We grew closer with the understanding that our love was the most important thing we had. Loosing that which is replaceable just seemed to roll off the shoulders. If we had lost any member of our immediate family, the devastation would have been complete. Instead, we lift each other up, helping one another with the turmoil’s of life. Sometimes not talking and just being together is enough. Sometimes we hug for what seems like hours, recharging our batteries. This has an effect close to inebriation. We share our love. We feed off the love each gives willingly. I believe in the sustenance of love.
No matter what life throws at us, we will survive. I know the sustaining nature of the love my family. I know that the more I give the more I receive, and I do not even have to ask for seconds. I believe in the sustenance of love.