My Love Stories

Love is Acceptance

My first memories of love center around my Mom which I think is pretty normal for most people. Mom taught me the basic love lessons like hugs and kisses, giving, forgiving, encouraging, putting others first, creating special moments, and correcting without judgement. But the one major constant in her love was ACCEPTANCE. She accepted me for who I was and liked me even when I was unlikable. I always knew that Mom accepted me as something good in her life. She was proud of me even before I learned how to do anything.

My Mom, Alice Marie, was a happy person even though she lived a life that I thought was difficult. She was nurturing and playful. She loved to play games with her children -- puzzles, board games, card games, even verbal games when traveling by car. Like most moms, she worried too much. But even so, she knew how to be content and how to have fun.

Now this was no small feat because her mom died when she was sixteen; her first husband (my Dad) left her for another woman when I was a baby; her second husband (the true love of her life) drowned when I was five; much of her life was lived in poverty; and her third husband (who she married when I was nine) was very temperamental and dictatorial. He was also sometimes abusive in the treatment of her children, which is hard for any good mother to handle. I think it was especially hard for Mom because it was so contrary to her nature. Mom was naturally happy! Amazing! Right?

Mom grew up on a farm with loving parents, so I guess that foundation plus the fact that she knew and loved Jesus accounted for the fact that she was a good Love Teacher.