WHO DO I LOVE, AND WHAT AM I DOING ABOUT IT?

Note: I recently found a set of six questions to answer to get the most out of life, so beginning today, I will answer these questions as part of my bog.

Certainly this is a loaded question for me, given that my relationship with Lane is somewhat up in the air. That doesn’t mean I don’t love Lane, because on many levels I do. I’ll focus more generally than specifically.

I love my friends. I have never had a large circle of friends, yet over the last several months, I’ve been blessed to have so many wonderful people come into my life. These friends are mostly through my involvement with the Choral Society, the greatest love of my life. So who do I love? I love my brothers in the Choral Society. What am I doing about it? I’m fostering what I hope to be life-long relationships with my brothers. In the short period of time I’ve known these guys, they’ve been there for me and have truly become a family to me. They are very much the family of choice for me and my love for them is beyond words. My love extends not only to my brothers in the choir, but also in many cases to their partners and friends. All together, we are a family. I love spending time with my friends, laughing, joking, bonding, talking and growing. Each wonderful individual in my life brings something that I need. They bring love and understanding, and I hope that I, in turn, return those wonderful gifts to them.

I love my family of origin, but I think it is more out of obligation than true love. I have so very little in common with my family of origin that it’s hard to even put into words the lack of emotion I have for them. It’s sad to me in a way, because I feel that I should have more love for the family that gave me life, for my parents, who made many sacrifices for me my whole life. I should feel something for my extended family-aunts, cousins, but nothing. How in the world can I possibly extend love to such strangers? I write cards and letters in an attempt to reach out, but get no response. However, I continue to try.

I love my pets. I have two cats. Unfortunately, I’m probably not ever going to win the “Pet Owner of the Year” Award. Oh, I clean their litter boxes, make sure they have water and food, but I could certainly provide more affection to them, I could stand to brush them a little more often, listen to them talk a little more, yet sometimes I think I’m a bit selfish and don’t give them the love they deserve.

Here’s my confession: None of us knows what tomorrow holds, how much time we have left on this Earth. It should be my priority—our priorities—that each day on earth we do our best to let those around us know what they mean to us. They could be gone tomorrow, or we could be gone tomorrow. Either way, and I speak this to myself as much as anyone, it is imperative that we take each and every opportunity to let those in our lives, our friends, our family, co-workers, anyone in our lives for whom we share love just how much they mean to us. Whether or not they return our love, it is important that we let them know. Because if tomorrow never comes, we’ve wasted an opportunity. And there is so much love to be gained by giving love.