Acts of love abound around Valentine’s Day. While Valentine’s Day is often depicted as a young lovers’ holiday, a You Tube video that went viral a number of years ago showed that love knows no age limits. I remember it because it was profoundly touching.
The video showed an older gentleman expressing love and patience with his wife, who was recovering from a stroke. Five years earlier, she had been a dynamic, successful professional. The stroke had left her partially paralyzed and unable to read, write, or speak. When the video was taken, she had recovered from her paralysis and was able to speak.
The video that went viral was taken in a Starbuck’s Café by a bystander who was profoundly touched by what he observed. With love and patience, the husband was helping his wife reclaim her ability to read and write using cue cards. The videographer wrote “Patience, love and understanding at its finest. People, this is true love.”
It’s easy to hold hands walking on the beach or doing any number of things one reads about in Hallmark cards. These acts of love are often superficial. This video captured a deeper expression of love. It went beyond the easy love of those who are young, healthy, and free of obligations and problems (although who really is these days?). It showed love expressed as quality time and helping someone else become independent.
We can all learn from this. Right now, there is an epidemic of loneliness. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is that no one knows what physical and emotional challenges life will bring. While this may have been expected in the later years of life, unforeseen events can cause life—and the time we have to say “I love you”—to be more unpredictable for everyone.
How will you use this season of your life to demonstrate your love to those who matter most to you? What acts of love will speak most clearly to your spouse, a family member, or a friend and demonstrate patience, love and understanding—true love—at its finest?