Day 11: Love is recognized by a series of rituals or is it?

Love is represented by  a series of rituals, important ones, that show someone that you'll be around for the long haul (this is called commitment).   I love a few people but only a few.  To those who love everyone, good for you but I don't.


I think the real love(s) in your life are comparable to the number of real friends you have (those people you can count on one hand with a couple of fingers left over.)  I'm not talking about the huge number of people you talk to each day, the Farmville buddies you have, your "acquaintances" as my mother used to say.  I am talking about people who care if you don't show, who notice if you have a half smile on your face, those people who sense your needs just by being close by; those people who honestly look at you and smile lovingly even when your hair is askew and you have sleep lines on your face.


As Barbra would say, people who need people are the luckiest...but we all need people.  The question is,"how do we show how much we care about the people we need or is it a one way street?"  I am a nurturer by trade ( although some I have worked with in the past may disagree  because of my obvious toughness on the job; that's the job, not the person).  I seriously get pleasure from  taking care of the people I love and there are no boundaries to this except when I'm tired, cranky, or obviously over spent (what you don't have limits to your boundless love?)


I know that being the one who "does" for others makes me happy but doing the same things for my special people whom I truly love is my kind of heaven.  Some things are simple gestures like bringing in a favorite pillow or simply touching fingertips as we pass, others require more planning like collecting copies of my son's favorite movies as he was growing up  as a surprise as he was leaving for college; remember "The Never Ending Story"?


Here's one ritual that I must have as I start each day.  Each morning Joey brings me a cup of coffee.  That sounds unimportant to most but it's not that the coffee is freshly ground or freshly brewed and made perfectly to my taste (although that counts big time) but it is what he says when he brings it: some special statement about the day, about me in a very sexy voice I might add.  It could be something like, "on this glorious Florida morning where the sun is shining and we are expecting a lovely and warm day....(i can't tell you everything but it is followed by deep smiles and me saying "I accept."  Now that's a ritual of love.


To those I love,  I dedicate this blog today (for you make me so very happy and I hope I do the same for you).  For those out there who are listening, find a ritual of love that works for you and practice it, for love is a series of important and insignificant rituals that two people share in affection and which make each and every day special.