Unconditional Loving

Unconditional Loving
Mel dog

What a shelter unconditional love is.  While channeling through the passages of life, it becomes clear how rare the relationships are which are not bound by strings attached.  My dad told me at some point during my school years when a friendship of mine turned over that I would be lucky to find one friendship like the one he has with my mom.  I think ultimately he was referring to the no-catch love that they share.  And his point was to hang on tight to those connections should I find them.

It doesn't have to be romantic...in fact I think that if you're lucky enough, you were born to parents who love you unconditionally and so you already had one or two unconditional love cards in your hand to start with.  I feel this love for my kids so fiercely.  I won't insist that they give me their time, their approval, or commitment to a certain path.  I will love them eternally and they don't owe me anything in return.

Advancing deeper into adulthood, I have found that there can be connections which include some sort of contractual obligations.  Perhaps it is difficult for some to love without certain expectations being met.  And perhaps also acceptance and understanding are not inherent in love.  That's not to say that such bonds aren't worthy of a place in your life, but it is to say that my dad was right about the scarcity of boundless love.

Despite believing myself to be a pretty independent soul when it comes down to it, there's no denying that I lean on those precious ones who have offered their love to me.  I spend every day with steadfast Rich with whom I share that kind of love.  And he's not the only one under this roof who seems to love unconditionally.  In her own canine way, Mel is sweetly devoted to us. Similar to my childhood dog Daisy, who I would turn to when I was down and out and who would nudge me and lick my face...Mel nourishes us with her affection and never fails to find patience for the kids.  Just recently we noticed a change in Mel, short for Oyamel, who has slid into old age before we realized what was happening.  Despite not being registered as an emotional support dog, she very well is ours.  Her unwavering good vibrations and tenderness are like an antidote to the worries in our life.  The likelihood of her decline became evident recently and was cause for a few late night chats this past week sitting with her on the living room floor.  

She's still here and still finds her way to me when I finally sit down for the night after the kids are stowed away in their beds.  She plants herself next to my spot on the leather couch and places her chin on the cushion beside my leg and just gazes up with her big browns, looking for some touch.  Rich describes her as being 'in love' with me in these moments.

The late night chats we've had reinforce the notion that the bonds forged in life are made of something beyond our earthly existence.  Even when Mel's sweet face isn't lying in my lap at day's end, her soul and the love she gave will continue to enrich our lives.  And on any given day that we may be touched by bad vibrations, let the experience of this precious unconditional love still them...love, transcendent love.


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