When Love is Love

Remember how we met one day when days were full of fun, and how we fell in love then, the days all seemed like one? All those youthful love days that did go on and on and on, wonderful in all the ways that never seem to dawn, till one day you were gone. I had friends to play with, friends to spend a day with but no taste for the game, the days were all the same. Not just a shadow or a memory and more than just a dream, your leaving left a refugee and years to go between. Remember how a young boy knows the closest to his heart, how the door will never close no matter we're apart? All those youthful love days will go on and on and on, wonderful in all the ways can never be withdrawn, our day could never dawn.

It seems to me that when others are genuinely interested in you as a person, it is a sign of affection. But what does it mean to be interested?  When someone is "interested in you as a person," it means they are curious about: Your thoughts and feelings: They ask questions and listen attentively when you share. They want to know about your life, your past, your passions, your future aspirations and your experiences. They pay attention to what makes you, you. Not what you do, but who you are. They are genuinely concerned about your well-being, and they will dig deep to find out. They have no expectations of you, nor do they judge and evaluate you. This kind of interest demonstrates that they value you as a person, and want to connect with you on a deeper level than just superficial interactions. It also is a reflection of their own development as a person. How Does Interest Connect to Affection? Affection is a broad term that encompasses feelings of fondness, liking, and care....

The problem is often expressed in terms of not being appreciated or not being loved. But the answer is not to look to our other, but look to ourself. Most often we blame the other when we don't feel loved. The other feels the same about you, and so we become trapped in a vicious circle always blaming the other. Or worse yet, waiting for the other to love us. There is only one way out: If you want to feel appreciated, be appreciative.  If you want to feel loved, love! Love begets love and more love begets more love. Joseph Smith said, "It is a time-honored adage that love begets love." Love builds upon itself. One of my most frequent answers to prayers about Annie has always been "Just love her," which to me does not allow any room for criticism, evaluation or expectation, but being human I can't eliminate these. I can, however, ask to receive the pure love of Christ so that at sometime I can love her perfectly. In the meantime I can begin to be changed by Hi...

Any attempt to summarize myself as a composite of all my many lives could never be complete without knowing who I was before I came to this earth. I have experienced my spirit as part of my mortal body, and look forward to experiencing my spirit inseparably connected to my immortal body, for I know that when they are inseparably connected I will receive a fulness of joy, according to the heed and diligence given to the light and truth communicated from heaven (His word). I like the analogy of my life as a the backside of a tapestry. It appears to be nothing more than a jumble of thread—tangled, frayed, occasionally knotted, and seemingly random. But when you turn the tapestry over you can see the art, the rich colors, the texture and the patterns that make up the tapestry.  My Father in Heaven has woven into my life nothing that has been wasted—not one thread of experience and not one person that I have met.   Every person I have ever met, every experience I have ever had, and...

I once sewed up a dog's throat with fishing line in the back of a pickup truck while its owner held a flashlight between his teeth and cried like a child. It was 1979, maybe 1980. Just outside a small town near the Tennessee border. No clinic, no clean table, no anesthesia except for a little gut-wrenching. But the dog survived. And this man still sends me a Christmas card every year, even though the dog is long dead... and so is his wife. I have been a veterinarian for forty years. Four decades of blood under fingernails and hair on clothes. Back then, you made do with what you had—not what you could charge. Today, I spend half my days explaining insurance codes and financing plans, while a beagle bleeds to death in the next room. I thought this job was about saving lives. Now I know: it's mostly about picking up the pieces when everything falls apart. I started in 1985. Freshly graduated from the University of Georgia. I still had my hair. And hope. My first clinic was a bric...