A love that lasts

At my grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary, July 2008

I will say that I have recently had a life-changing experience. I went up to Canada to visit my Grandma and Grandpa Miller. It had been several years since I had seen either of them. Since I have been gone, my grandma's health has gradually deteriorated. I witnessed a man who had love without limits. My grandmother lay there, lifeless. His purpose to living, was loving her. Despite her ability to move, speak, or even feed herself, he loved her unconditionally.

Visiting Grandma in the Hospital (March 2011) 

I sat and learned what love truly is. Someone that truly loves you will take an hour to spoon feed you, when you can't lift your arms anymore. Someone that truly loves you will kiss you over and over, even when the other person doesn't remember your name. Someone that  truly loves you will hold your hand, even when they can't  hold yours'. Someone who truly loves you, will visit you in the hospital twice a day, every day, even when the other person doesn't even know you're there.

Honestly the time spent observing my grandparents reminded me a lot, 

 of one of the best chic flics of all time. The Notebook.

I realized that these are the things that we have to ask ourselves. Sometimes love seems to be so superficial. My grandpa was a schoolteacher. In that day I sat in the hospital with them, he taught me a  lesson that changed my life. When we commit ourselves to someone else a true sign of our love is when we love and give continually, without expecting anything in return.

This is a beautiful excerpt from a talk by a leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. (To learn more check out: http://mormon.org/) 


A Love That Lasts

Elder Lynn G. Robbins 

For some people, falling in love is a magical encounter, something that seems to happen at first sight. For others, it is a growing affinity and attraction toward another, like budding blossoms that flower into a beautiful bouquet. Though the first type of love may also bloom like the second, it is often merely glandular, a cotton candy kind of love that has no substance. While it may begin with warm cuddles in moonlit glades, it can soon grow cold as honeymoon memories fade and familiarity turns to faultfinding.

On the other hand, “divine” love, as President Spencer W. Kimball called it, “is not like that association of the world which is misnamed love, but which is mostly physical attraction. When marriage is based on this only, the parties soon tire of each other. There is a break and a divorce, and a new, fresher physical attraction comes with another marriage, which in turn may last only until it too becomes stale. The love of which the Lord speaks is not only physical attraction, but also faith, confidence, understanding, and partnership. It is devotion and companionship, parenthood, common ideals and standards. It is cleanliness of life and sacrifice and unselfishness. This kind of love never tires nor wanes. It lives on through sickness and sorrow, through prosperity and privation, through accomplishment and disappointment, through time and eternity.”³