LOVE

Ever love someone with total unconditional love? Ever been changed by it? This year my husband and I are celebrating 15 years together. People inquire of others who's marriages are 35 years or more, "what's the secret?" The answers are being blind and deaf to each others faults...or having a sense of humor...or just saying "yes,dear" ...and others remark still being in love with the person on the inside and accepting the natural changes on the outside.

There was a struggle in the early years, not of power, but of communication. Once he understood that he didn't need to fix everything and just listen, once I understood that men need to provide and protect, and after many hours of taking the time to listen to each other as well as speak from the heart...that is when our marriage began to bloom. The respect for each other and the lover for each other was there....and one more thing occurred: he gave me a sense of humor.

In the last 15 years, we have grown together...learning to be present and love each other unconditionally. The cement of our marriage is and will always be our faith, both of us are Roman Catholic. The ability to share our love of the Holy Trinity and the Catholic Church with each other has carried us through the difficult times when we did not clearly understand the other, but were willing to learn to try our best.

Somewhere in the future we will be separated by death. Yet, each moment that the one who survives attends Holy Mass and receives the Body and Blood of Christ we will be united, as one, through the Catholic Church. This is the perfect example of unconditional love.... and at this time in our journey we are moving ever closer to achieving it.