A group of four to eight-year-olds talked about love. Author Ladan Lashkari (DailyGood.org) writes that this is what some of them had to say.
"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love." Rebecca - age 8
"Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other." Karl - age 5
"Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your fries without making them give you any of theirs." Chrissy - age 6
"Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK." Danny - age 7
"Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well." Tommy - age 6
"Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day." Mary Ann - age 4
"I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones." Lauren - age 4
"You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget," Jessica - age 8
Jessica is right. We do need to say it a lot. Because people forget.
Abraham Lincoln knew the truth of that. He once summoned to the White House a surgeon in the Army of the Cumberland from the state of Ohio. The major assumed that he was to be commended for some exceptional work.
During the conversation Mr. Lincoln asked the officer about his widowed mother. “She is doing fine,” he responded.
“How do you know?” asked Lincoln. “You haven't written her. But she has written me. She thinks that you are dead and she is asking that a special effort be made to return your body.” At that the Commander and Chief placed a pen in the young doctor's hand and ordered him to write a letter letting his mother know that he was alive and well.
You see, it’s about love. Like anthropologist Margaret Mead says, “One of the oldest human needs is having someone wonder where you are when you don’t come home at night.”
It’s a need that goes unmet too much of the time.
I wonder, who needs to hear from me today?
--Steve Goodier
Image: flickr.com/Theresa Martell