Love...

I've been thinking about this a very great deal lately...

The Demie Diva was the greatest flower girl ever.  She "forgotted" to "sprinkle" the petals.  She kissed a wedding guest, aged nine, twice, and decreed that she would marry him.

Mostly, though, she showed everyone how much she loves her Rica and the new spouse.

Me, I was exhausted.  The venue got cleaned and decorated.  The bride got made up and hair done.  And zipped into her dress...and caterers got finessed, and photographers got clued in to really funky family dynamics.

And on the day, the beautiful bride deliberately faked a throw of her bouquet, spotted me in the mix - she insisted I get in the group - and threw that bouquet at me.

Love...those things are all love.  Love is doing for someone, without strings, and regardless of the cost to yourself because you can make something special even more so.  Love is hugging a beautiful young woman, who is the child I would have had if I'd started at 22, and crying at the beauty of her smile on her wedding day.  Love is looking at that child, when she keeps thanking you, and saying "pay it forward".

You see, my beautiful big girl is entering a two year commitment with Teach For America.  Her wonderful spouse is deferring his law school plans so that she can honor it.  Some day, she will be the one adult a child trusts.  She will watch that beautiful awkward adolescent become a confident adult who has learned that they are deserving of love.

If she is very lucky, she will sit on the lawn at an Ivy League school, and watch that child graduate cum laude, after putting him/herself through school.  And...she will know that in some tiny way, she helped them get to that point.

At the rehearsal dinner, the bride's father commented on the strange relationship of the faculty and students at "the Creek", and how wonderful, yet bittersweet such events must be for us. He isn't usually that insightful...  And he was right.  That's the beautiful thing about teaching...it does, really, become an act of love.

You see, the week I got back from the Ivy League school graduation, (yes, I'm braggin..) I went across the street from the school where I live and work...I went with two of my colleagues...and I sat with five of my former students and their parents at the funeral of an amazing mother.  And when it was time for the committal, I sat with a 21 year old and held her hand until she was ready to leave her mother.

Love takes many forms.  I'm always stunned and surprised when there are strings attached by others.  You see, for me, love is the one thing I give, knowing that I'm enriched more through giving than through receiving.