Dear Reader,
How do we fall in love?
It doesn’t happen in a vacuum. We meet someone, get to know how they think and the way they live, and understand their core values such as family, religion, politics, and character.

We watch how they treat others and how they handle different situations. We watch for tone and check for lightheartedness and a sense of humor. We consider any dark shadows and what they might mean. Eventually, we perceive the true essence of a person, or believe that we have, and we fall in love with that perception.

After the children have flown the nest; after the parents and aunts and uncles have passed; after the friends have retired or moved away or passed, what we perceived no longer exists. We saw what existed in that one moment of time, but we did not glimpse the eternal and unchanging reality of a human soul, because that’s just not possible.
We stare at each other anew and understand that Father Time never paused and now we are old. We wonder what we fell in love with. Where is that person, other than in an ever-changing memory.

The answer is unknowable, so we trudge on, because of character, because of commitment, and because of the embers of love that flow and still spark bursts of joy among a new context of life.

Patrick J. Wood
Publisher
Author of “Dear Reader” and “Tapestry of Love and Loss”