The Month of Love

Several blogs are devoting their entries during February to the topic of love. Love in all its forms: romance, family, friends, love for pets, passions or treasures. Love for February, for life, for beauty. Since my mind kept going blank when I searched for a topic to write about, I decided that I could write about love. Then my mind went blank again.

At lunch today, I was reading another of my million books about writing. Naked, Drunk, and Writing, by Adair Lara. She says to just write—sit down, type in a sentence, then type another one, then another one. Soon momentum will take over. She isn't the only one who says this: all writing books and authors give this advice. Just sit down and write. I listen, nod my head, and avoid sitting down and writing.

Instead, I started web surfing, reading some of my favorite blogs, and discovering new ones. I read that this month is NaBloPoMo, National Blog Posting Month. Bloggers are encouraged to post an entry every day during February. In Becca's Byline, I read that people are writing about love during February. Christina at Soul Aperture has written beautiful entries about love that stir my heart. I read great posts that were only a paragraph long. (That isn't likely to happen for me—I'm way too wordy—even when I have nothing to say!) Then I closed my browser, opened a Word document, and started this post.

So—love. That's a big topic.

I tell my family and friends that I love them. My co-workers tease me about ending my personal phone calls by saying, "I love you!" They say, "Gee, we aren't supposed to tell clients THAT!" Or, "Gosh, she never tells ME that!" I don't let their teasing deter me.

As a child, I rarely heard my parents say, "I love you." Mom and Dad just weren't comfortable voicing their love. They didn't go in for hugging or kissing either. I loved being hugged, kissed, and hearing that someone loved me. When I had my children, I told them that I loved them—frequently. I hugged them. I kissed them. As an adult, as I and my parents grew older, I decided to do the same with my parents. I started to tell them that I loved them, to hug and kiss them. At first it was awkward; however, they quickly came to expect and enjoy being more demonstrative. I'm glad for that. They are both gone now, and I am so thankful for all the memories of the hugs, kisses and I love you's that I did get.

So, my first post on love is to remind you to tell people that you love them. What will the second post be? Will there be a second post? I guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow and see what happens when I sit down and write that first sentence.