I love love...
I love the kind of love I have for my family. Imagine that house out of 'UP'. Every happy memory I have of my family is like adding one more balloon onto that old man's little house. That time my Dad walked me down the road to the petrol station that was being rebuilt and we watched the diggers and lorries, and then he bought me some chocolate for my 'Friday treat'...
...there's a little blue balloon tied onto the house...
That time my Mum painted my nails when I felt ugly to make me feel beautiful...
...there's a little yellow balloon tied to the house...
That time my sister wrote me a note just saying she hoped I'd had a nice day and stuck it on my door to see when I came home from school....
...there's a little pink balloon tied to the house...
All of those times and a million more meaning that the house is lifted up so high that nothing can pull it down or stop it flying. That's how I feel about the kind of love I have for my family. It makes me soar.
The kind of love I have for The Boy is sort of the opposite. Him and I are trees, planted next to each other in a field. Instead of balloons lifting me up and away, I feel like our love grounds and fastens me tightly to the ground. No storm will uproot us. Every word of encouragement we give each other, every hug or kiss we share, each time he says he loves me, or I say love to him, we grow more roots and reach them deeper. I hope that in 50 years, we will be like two ancient gnarled Oak trees in a farmer's field. Every year the farmer will say "eeh I wish I could get rid of them old trees but their roots are so deep, and they are so solid it would be impossible! Anyway they are beautiful and wonderful so they can stay in my field forever..." That's how I feel about the love I have for The Boy. It grounds me.
I love the kind of love I have for my friends. A good friendship is symbiotic (a word I learnt from my friend's 3 year old son!) which means we work together, like an Olive Baboon and an African Elephant. (Google it if you don't believe me! They're best pals!) You need a shopping buddy? I'm there. I need a shoulder to cry on? You're there!
I sometimes wonder if the reason people do kind things is because they hope that someday down the line, they will be repaid their good deed, like believing in karma. I hope not. I am trying hard to do my 'kind deed every day' and so far it's going OK. I try to show my love for people by trying hard to help them when they need help. Some of my friends have had a really tough time recently and I imagine they feel a bit like the future is a foggy forest, there's no way of knowing which way they are going or the outcome of their trials. It's a horrible feeling, knowing there's nothing I can do to make things right, so all I can do is be helpful. I sometimes worry this isn't enough but I can't make the world right except by loving people. So that's what I'll do. If they need me they know they can ask and I'm always there.
That's the best thing about love. It's always there :)
Love love love Hannan :)
P.S. Happy Valentine's Day! Hope you felt loved on Thursday.
