Love is unforgettable.

I'm thinking today about how I've learned to live the day. Each day. Wasn't always that way.

Used to be that I was thinking too much about the future. It was a way of diverting my thought from today. But then I gradually focused more and more on today. To find a way to make the most of it. To find a happy pursuit. A happy thought. A pleasant thought. A soothing thought. Maybe I learned this in caring for Jeanne. Not only caring, but loving. Genuinely loving. In an unconditional manner. For almost 40 years. Right up to the day Jeanne died.

And now I'm in love again. Yes, I've learned to keep loving. With Jeanne's help. Yes, Jeanne taught me to love. For as long as I am alive. And to do it one day at a time. Fully. Totally. I don't take love matter-of-factly. I am truly focused. On loving. On falling in love. Deeper and deeper every day.

Maybe for much of my life I didn't know where I was going. Unaware of what was happening to me. Unaware of the so many, many daily opportunities to salvage something meaningful from every day life. Either I was blind, or I chose not to see. Maybe I was too focused on the past or on the future. Rather than living now. Maybe I was scared to live. Or maybe I was too dumb to live.

But I am trying to live today. Trying to understand what is going on inside me. And around me. Acknowledging that I am in love. And that is what counts. That is the main source of my happiness. My awareness. My today. Yes, I am cognizant of what is happening. To me. Around me. In the world. In my immediate environs. With people. And creatures. Everything. I'm aware of nature. Of the weather. And I like to do things. Impulsively. Pleasant things. Loving things. Things that bring happiness and joy. To me. And to others. Just a good feeling. I look at the note on my refrigerator door. It reminds me that I am alive and conscious. And in love. With someone. With life. In love even with myself. I am happy to be me. No desire to be anybody else. I am enjoying this moment. Because I am in love. So wonderful. I'm not sure when it was that I understood that I was in love. With life. It just happened. Somewhere along the line. Maybe in one sense I was in love before I even became aware of it. I suspect I was born to love. But it took me a long time to become aware of it.

I was born to write, too. Yes, to brood. In writing. To ponder. In writing. To flow. In writing. Maybe haphazardly at times. Just another way to think. About love. Another way to learn to be myself. Another way to capture the moment. So many precious moments.

Lately, I have been writing love letters. Every night. One does that in love. Love is deeply engrained in my soul, my spirit, my mind. Love permeates me. Love is unforgettable. --Jim Broede