11 | February | 2012 | Dear Bliary

Love.

What do you think of when you think L-O-V-E?

Family? Friends? Husband? Wife? Partner? Pet? Food? (Ok, maybe that’s just me.)

Where do your allegiances lie? Who do you love? Who are your friends? What does all that even mean? And who killed Cock Robin? (Sorry, I digress.)

My friend of almost 50 years told me something once and I never forgot it. I was complaining about putting on weight. I was telling her that I can’t trust my husband because he always tells me that I look beautiful. I grumbled, “How am I suppose to know when to stop eating if he keeps telling me I’m beautiful?” Her reply: “We both think you’re beautiful. We see you with our hearts, not with our eyes.”

Ahhhhhhhhh. But WOW!

Unconditional love. Like my pets. They love me, no questions asked. If they could even ask questions, that is. Mostly they meow and bark.(And fart. Maybe they don’t really love me.) There are a few people (and animals) in my life that look at me with their hearts. Thank goodness. Not everybody has that. I am very lucky.

And friendship. What’s that about?

I’m understanding there are different degrees of friendship. You have friendships with people you work with. You can be friends with your neighbors. You can make friends with your mailman, your accountant, your hairdresser. You can even be friends with a friend of your friend. What stinks is when you think you have friends, and it turns out they’re just people you know. Not really friends at all.

When you’re a friend, in the true sense of the word, love included, you stand by each other. Unconditionally. There’s no judging. You believe in each other. You trust and trust IN each other. There’s not too much you wouldn’t do for one another. You certainly would never turn your back on a friend. Shame on you if you do.

Tuesday is Valentine’s Day. Send your mom a box of chocolates. Give your man a (fill in the blank). Get your dog a gourmet canine cookie.

Send a friend an over-the-top, sentimental, love-you-like-crazy, Valentine’s card.
But before you shell out the dough (a card could cost upwards of $5.00 these days!!) be sure you know who your friends are.

If you’re among the very few and very special, I love you.