“Make a playlist of love songs.”

Boy, is that a loaded request!  Which kind of love – young, new, unrequited, passionate, comfortable, crazy, enduring? They all describe the same emotion, and may all be used to accurately describe a different stage of the same life – of the same love.  (But – they don’t all necessarily belong in the same playlist…)

Now, even in my “young love” days, I was not a fan of the hearts and flowers.  As the years (all 42 of them) have passed, and love has grown into marriage and motherhood, I find that the love songs I most appreciate are the ones referencing how real – and hard – love can be.  It’s not all glamour, it’s not all fun, and it’s definitely not always exciting.  But…it’s solid.  It’s comforting.  It’s tenacious.  It’s TANGIBLE.

That’s the kind of love song that I will be listening to as Valentine’s Day 2010 approaches.  I’ll be reminding myself that neither of us is perfect, and we like it that way.  Hearing about lost love will remind me how lucky I am to have found and kept mine.  I’ll laugh when I think of how silly we were then, and how relaxed and content we are now.  And on February 14th, when we’re sitting on the sofa in our sweats instead of wining and dining on the town, I’ll slip my hand into my hubby’s and we’ll listen together…because he feels the same way I do.

Of course he does.  We’re in love.

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