Love is an action word

  For Mom and Dad.
49 years. My parents anniversary is today and I am at a loss as to how to express what they mean to me. Just before Dale and I were to marry, my parents talked to us about love. About REAL love. They explained that true love was more than a feeling, more than the inconstancy of wild passion, more than mere words. Love is a verb, an action word. Love is the active choice to be there for another person everyday. It is the decision made every moment to love the other even when it is a challenge. Love is knowing, beyond any doubts, that you are loved by another even when you feel unlovable and difficult. It is the deep commitment to link arms with your partner and face the world, and everything the world has to throw at you, together. Love is freeing. Love is encouraging. Love is lifting and love is sustaining. Love is inspiring. Love can come easily and love can be hard at times, but love is constant. For 49 years they have chosen to actively love one another through all things. They have been love itself to each other and to those blessed enough to encounter them. Happy anniversary to the people who taught me to love.