3 Non-Significant Other Love Stories

Wherever you may be in your life and whatever season, today can be about so many different types of love. Whether you have a significant other or not, I wholeheartedly believe you have been loved and loved in return in some sort of way. Love is always present and sometimes we need a day to give us time and space to open our hearts, seeing how love may have manifested in hidden, unnoticed ways.

Today, I'd like to share 3 love stories.

Love can come from a place of loss

When I was 28, I went through a divorce. With my entire world turned upside down, I needed someplace to go to be alone but not alone. I needed a place to grieve, to figuratively die because life as I had known it, and had envisioned it to be, was over. It was a God-incidence that my auntie, who also happened to be my godmother, that her husband passed away from cancer in that same season. So, I moved back from New York to San Francisco to live with her. And the two of us navigated through this new reality.

That was 10 years ago. Yet, I will never forget her generosity, her graciousness, and the space she gave me to just be. I feel like we gave that to each other because it was what we needed. That perhaps we knew this type of grace could only come from another person going through such a devastating loss. Ten years later, when I think of that time in my life I don't feel pain. I feel loved, seen, and taken care of. In what was one of the darkest times in my life, I had a companion. Sometimes we can only associate love with these great feelings of being on great highs or in moments of great celebration like a proposal or a wedding day. But here in the depths of great loss, from a distance of 10 years, I see a love story.

Love is humility and forgiveness

Seven years after that season, I found myself married to my amazing husband Kevin, pregnant, and overjoyed. Then, we miscarried. That darkness was consuming. In that deep grief, there were some women, including my mom, who had some insensitive words and opinions. I had pulled away from people a bit because of how overwhelmed I felt so it was my younger sister who called my mom and scolded her.

Later that night, my mom, who is not tech-savvy at all, texted Kevin and I. The message was overflowing with words of remorse. That she misspoke and was upset with herself for saying what she had. She told us that she loved us and was praying for us. Then, she asked for our forgiveness. I have such profound respect for my mom because of this moment. She is an amazing woman in general. But this moment, I hold onto. It's one of those moments where she became supermom, able to look past her own self and see the need to make amends.

Sometimes we can overlook the power of a heartfelt apology. Maybe we are not ready for it. Maybe the wound is still too fresh. But the force behind one is of love. How else can one humble themselves to say those words and for another to receive and accept them?

Love is taking care of those we love

We often hear that love is not a feeling, it's an action. I have the most amazing example of that in my parents and in particular, my dad. He joined the U.S. Navy at age 18 and spent 20 years serving our country. Then, he did another 20 years working for the VA, again serving our country and taking care of our veterans.

One of the most admirable qualities of my dad is how hard he works. I have never known anyone who has worked harder. Recently, I learned that while in the Navy, he worked another part-time job just so that he could send money back home to his family in the Phillippines. His dad passed away while he was on his first tour shortly after joining the military. He is also the oldest of 12. To this day, more than 50 years later, he still sends money back.

Growing up, my parents were completely dedicated to my two sisters and I. My dad took a 2nd job to help put us through school. When times got even tougher, he started looking for a 3rd job. He has never been afraid of work. I dream of having just a fraction of his work ethic.

This is true of my mom as well. I remember when she was in her 60s, working as a chemist for California EPA and on the brink of retirement. Both her and my dad were still helping all of us financially when the economy took a hit and her salary and pension were going to get cut. But instead of complaining she hit the books and went for another promotion to make up the difference - in her 60s! Even after not passing two times, she kept studying. The third time was the charm. She got her promotion. She was still going to be able to help her family.

While I know that my parents would not have wanted to live their lives any other way, I also know they had other dreams. Ones they sacrificed because their desire to love and care for us was greater. Sometimes I think that we are searching for a deep kind of love in another person when perhaps, it has always been present in our lives since the day we were born.

When we begin to see and believe that, we can dare more greatly in this world, love in return more deeply, and give from a place of being filled. That this place this isn't a feeling, but a truth that we have been cared for, given better opportunities, and held tenderly even in our most trying times.

So today, if there is an opportunity to notice one (or more!) of those moments, take it!. Let them enter your heart, become refreshed and rediscovered in your memory, and remind you of a truth, that indeed, you are loved, today and as you are. Happy Valentine's Day!

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Photo Credit: Thomas Hawk CC BY-NC 2.0