I Want a Love Like That: How Do I Have to Change to Make It Happen?

We had a lovely day yesterday. Marie made steak and cabbage and we shared a bottle of wine and played Sequence at the kitchen table. We watched "Julie and Julia" in bed and made love, and before she fell asleep I held Marie in my arms and told her I loved and adored her. That's a perfect day. We laughed, we spent some time in thought and reflection, and we had a good meal with a bottle of wine. A perfect day with no shouting or insults or moments of doubt and misery. We were okay inside and out. I won three five dollar sit and gos, $22 each. The Ducks recruited a standout defensive tackle and the man from the temp agency called Marie about a job. I had dark chocolate M&Ms for dessert, in bed, holding a beautiful blonde who, miraculously, belongs to me. How did I get so lucky? A perfect day.

All days can't be perfect, but I want a love like Julia and Paul Child had in that movie. Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci did a superb job of conveying the life of two people who couldn't get enough of each other, who felt "you are the butter to my bread and the breath to my life." Paul delighted in his wife. He adored her and encouraged her. They had a fabulous time together and strove to make every daily reunion and every bedtime warm and attentive. He wasn't interested in her flaws or picking her apart, her tall gawky eccentricities, her odd and scattered aspirations. He loved HER. All of her. Every turn of her head. Every moment of being with her. Her companionship. Her presence. He embraced her dreams. It was beautiful to watch her blossom in his love, to achieve her dreams in the steady flame of his adoration. It made a touching and inspiring story, and most importantly, a true one.

Live a true story today. Look up and notice the delights of your life, and the person you were given to share them with. Consider how miraculous it is that someone would choose you and endure the hardships of you, who would make the effort to provide for you and serve you and embrace you, to make the human difference of not giving up and staying where they belong. It doesn't happen every day. Not everyone is so lucky as to be loved and kept close. It's a lonely world. Most people's stories are far from true, and far from complete. Don't waste the chance to live yours. Notice the one you love, and dance with them in the kitchen. Give the fire a little fuel before it dies from neglect.