45. Is true love a thing? #LifeWideLearning16@bhwilkoff
— Zac Chase (@MrChase) February 14, 2016
I have made dozens of mix tapes and cd’s for people that I love. I have written songs for them too. I have planned romantic dinners and I have traveled long distances, all under the guise of love. All of those things were true in that they really happened. But were any of them “true love” as we might remember it from The Princess Bride? No.
Because true love isn’t a romantic dreamscape that you can walk in and out of if just wish hard enough. True love is bigger than romance or adventurous outings. It is more than love letters and gifts on appropriate holidays.
True love is watching your wife give birth to your children and knowing that she is giving more to you in that moment than you thought possible.
True love is apologizing to your kids when you have done something wrong by them, no matter how insignificant.
True love is not knowing exactly how you are going to pay for a dinner, but going out anyway because you have to talk to the one other person that makes sense to you right now.
True love is sitting next to your wife and watching as she struggles for words after receiving a concussion in a high speed skiing accident.
True love is worrying about your child’s fever that just won’t go down no matter what you do.
True love is going out for something that your family needs at 2:13 in the morning.
True love is driving for hours to see your best friend for just a few minutes before they get on a flight.
True love is the first phone call after something amazing happens.
True love is the years’ worth of ongoing texts that tell the story of the mundane life you often lead.
True love is the unexpected happy hour.
These are the things that don’t quite measure up to the platonic ideal, but are nonetheless much more satisfying. That is what makes true love “a thing.” The fact that it isn’t one thing, but rather a series of amazing things that fulfill your waking hours with life. There are many alternatives to true love, and I do not begrudge anyone theirs. But, when given the option of romance or truth, I will always choose truth.
