What's Love Got To Do With It?

While driving to my local Firestone Auto shop this morning I started thinking about the word love. Have you ever given thought to it's true meaning? More and more it seems to me that saying "I love you" to another is akin to saying, "Please" and "Thank you". In other words, it doesn't bring down the thunder. Have you ever received a card from someone and at the bottom it reads; "love Ya"? I rest my case. When I write a note or letter to a person of whom I think highly I will end it with, "love". In my mind that means the very best of health and good wishes because I believe them to be a wonderful, loving, caring person. Don't argue with me. It's the way I am.
High school boys and girls say, "I think I love you" to each other after they've had a few dates. Then the guy convinces himself it's an open invitation to a perpetual game of smash mouth(and whatever) in the back seat of his car.
There's a Seinfeld episode when George is torn as to whether he should tell his girlfriend, Sienna, that he loves her. His major concern would be that she wouldn't have a positive response and he'd feel like a worthless dufus. This scenario has stopped many men in their tracks. This I can understand. I had a young lady tell me she loved me. That was ten minutes before I told her we should start seeing others.
I don't remember when I told my wife that I loved her. Knowing me I most likely uttered those famous words while we were eating a Dairy Queen. "Hey, girl, how's your ice cream and by the way "I love you". I'm sure as I look back there might have been some trepidation on my part that I'd get the big, "And I think you're a nice guy, too". Now that I think about it she did say something about "It's always darkest before the dawn" whatever the hell that means. Since this was forty-four years ago I'd say things have worked out nicely.
The other day I had a close relative tell me that she loves me and wondered why I never said the same to her. That was a dandy question and I might have the proper response. I'm not one to frequently utter the L word. As I've aged it seems that instead of love being a two way street it's a one way response. Love isn't one of those giddy feelings you have in the pit your stomach. That's what's called puppy love. Love is sacrifice to others in your life without thinking about the reason why. It's like a Nike commercial. You just do it.
I'm convinced that the true test of unconditional love is if I'd take a bullet for someone. I'd take a bullet for my wife unhesitatingly. I'm not talking about a bullet in the thigh or foot, either. I'd bite the bullet knowing the barrel of the gun was located at the base of my skull and about to bring about the big finis. I'd do the same for my children and my ten grandchildren, too. This is easy for me because they are my legacy and have my blood coursing through their veins. I love my children and my grandbabies. I want to say I've loved them from day 1 but being a man it's when they have birthday number one. That's when they become real people and the love part automatically kicks in.
You see, I love that my relatives are a part of my family but I'm not going to offer myself up to the Big Guy as a trade off. Can you actually believe someone, other than my immediate family, would say to me, "Won't you die for me, please"? And I'd answer "Un-uh".
There are some folks who would die for their pets. This seems silly to me but I've also heard of people who die and leave the bulk of their estate to either Fluffy or Fido and that also makes no sense to me.
I'd like to think that I'd die for my faith but I haven't been tested. Have you read about the 27 year-old women in the Third World country of Sudan. He father was a Muslim and her mother a Christian. The woman, did I tell you she was pregnant, is going to given a hundred lashes then hung to death after her child is born. Why is this? Quite simply, she will not follow the practices of Islam and the Sudanese government calls this blasphemy thereby insuring that she will meet her doom. There are a heck of a lot of folks who would tell the government they've had a change of mind and start screaming, "Allah is Great" then leave the country and go back to what they want to do when they want to do it. Not this lady, though. If there is such a thing as a true martyr then Meriam Yehya Ibrahim is one of those and has a non-stop ticket to heaven if she is put to death.
There isn't a proper answer to this post about love. The only thing I can suggest is when you tell someone you love them make sure you mean it because, and oh how I hate to write it, "Love means never having to say you're sorry". (With apologies to Ali McGraw)