Love

The word love has been bandied about so much these days that it has all but lost its meaning.

But love generally means that the other person is a priority to you. You pick them up from the airport, even if it means going out of your way, because you want to see them, and you want to make life convenient and pleasant for them. You pay bills or do chores or however household life is divvied up because that person needs clean underwear or a better credit score or a hot meal. Their success is important to you, but so are their failures, their pains, and their creations. What they do and say interests you (although it doesn't have to, all the time). This is the person who you still come to see even if Alzheimer's means they forget you. This is the person you take care of in their last hours, weeks, months, and years, or they do it for you, even if it's a horrible disease. You move to a new place for them. You care about them even if they become unattractive, or incapable of having sex. You change your own life, if necessary, in order to be with them. You fight, too, but you fight fairly and don't denigrate each other - and making up matters to you. Compromise and changing attitudes and knowing when to back down and when to step up - those are a part of love as well.

And the corollary is true, that they do or will do the same, because one-sidedness isn't really an aspect of love. Reciprocality really makes it work, because otherwise you're a slave to someone or you allow them to dictate terms and control your life.

It matters a whole helluva lot more than liking the same rock bands or being beautiful or funny (although a sense of humor is great) or the like.

Please don't misuse and overuse the word love. Please redeem it, and don't cheapen it.