Love Glue

Do you remember the very first time you ever had your heart broken? I do. I remember it vividly...all of the anguish, all the disbelief, all of the insecurity, and especially feeling absolutely certain that my heart would never heal. I didn't think I would ever recover, but of course I did. Time heals, right? Right—until the next time, and the next time, and the next time—but somehow that first heartbreak is the worst. It is in that moment that you realize everything you thought you knew about love was a lie. Everything you ever dared to dream about love becomes just that, a dream. So, soon you realize that love isn't anything like you've read about in books, or seen in movies. If it were, there would be no reason to write the books or make the movies. People would just walk around in a perpetual state of bliss and happiness. No one would ever get divorced, it would be utopia, right?

Right now I have two little girls whose idea of romantic love is what they read in books and see in movies or on Disney Channel. So, I was taken aback when my older daughter (10) asked me...Mommy, do you think there are men out there who love their women like Edward loves Bella? ( from the Twilight series) Wow! I mean...WOW! I gave pause. How do you answer that? I don't lie to my kids. No...there aren't sweetie...Edward is a character in a book...relationships are much more difficult in the real world...there may be some out there, but believe me they are very rare. If I can in some small measure give her hope while still being realistic, then that's what I would like to impart to her. Like any good mother, someday I will purge all the personal, gory, sordid, and yes, happy details of my own love experiences. No matter what I say or do though, I know someday she will suffer her first heartbreak, and there is absolutely nothing I can do to prevent it.

Love—simple, complex, powerful, eternal. People long for it, people fear it, sadly some never find it. This single emotion, this emotion synonymous with our Creator, is perhaps the hardest emotion. There are so many facets to love. We love our parents differently than we love our friends. We love our spouses differently than we love our children. We love our Creator differently than we love ourselves. We write songs and poetry about it. Some of the best movies ever made are movies about love. Love can evoke laughter, euphoria, elation, bliss, joy, tenderness, comfort, but also tears, obsession, lies, jealousy, rage, fear, and even death. Love can break us, but love can save us as well. Love mends the broken heart, for if it didn't we'd never love again. Maybe ultimately, that is the lesson I need to impart to my girls. Your heart will get broken, but Love will be the glue that puts the pieces back together so that you will be able to love again.