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At the beginning of last year, I asked my friend from high-school to keep me in mind if his family scheduled a reunion. I hadn’t seen his brothers nor their families for quite some time and I cherished the thought of doing so again. Weeks before Thanksgiving, he informed me that they would all be getting together in New Jersey the day after the holiday. I said “count me in” and they kept the fact that they invited me as a surprise to the rest of the family. Days later, they called back letting me know that on the weekend before the holiday, they would be celebrating Thanksgiving and having dinner with their adult children, their partners and a grandchild and invited me to attend that event as well, also as a surprise visitor. I couldn’t pass up that chance. So, what started out as a 3-day road trip during the busiest travel days of the year, was now an extended 10-day trip. That left me with a number of days between these two weekend events during Thanksgiving week. As I made calls to arrange to see other people whom I hadn’t seen in while, I received six different invitations for the Thanksgiving meal. I hadn’t counted on that and was explaining this situation to a friend of mine who said simply, “I don’t see a problem here, Ed. Embrace the Love”. Her admonition hit home and not just for the duration of that trip. It is now a worthy New Year’s Resolution, cloaked in a clever mantra. Embrace the Love. Search it out. Celebrate it. Awaken the love in your own heart. Be aware that it could come from anywhere, sometimes when you expect it least. And, when you are more aware of it, more open to it and actually look for it, you’ll find it in abundance. Acknowledge it. Share it. Give it freely. My friends met their daughter and granddaughter at the front door as I sat waiting anxiously in the family room. I was thinking that the last time I saw her, she must have been near the age of her own daughter! As she walked down the hall, she could sense that someone else was in the home. Her steps quickened and upon seeing me, her eyes widened and her smile beamed as she screamed and jumped around, then ran over to give me a huge hug. Her daughter was confused about who this stranger might be that could elicit this kind of spontaneous and joyous reaction from her mother. I spent that weekend and the next embraced in the love of this family. I can’t promise that all love when it finds you will bowl you over like this. I can promise that all of it will feel just as good! |