The World's Greatest (Perhaps) Love Saga

Well hydrated on Shel Silverstein’s 46 yr. ol

d story, The Giving Tree, I was hurriedly assembling my arsenal of fuel for the day; apples, water, and almonds.

Suddenly my prepared assault on life was interrupted. It was to be a divine interruption!

My little grandda

ughter, Elena, was staring up at me from beyond our cooking island. She was furiously waving at me, all the while expertly chirping,

“Bye! Bye! Bye Papa, bye.”

This, nearly-two-year-old slayer of old grandpa-like hearts was doing it again –

“Killing me softly,” I sighed –then mumbled out loud,

“Dang, if your not the cutest little girl in all the world.”

You may be asking,

“Why Bruce, are you erupting in such a passionate, emotional homily (most likely you aren’t ask this at all - laugh)?”

Because, my friend, Life-breathed experiences like the one I’m about to mesmerize and memorialize you with should never be taken lightly! In fact, these encounters should be immortalized and celebrated – So, let the saga begin (Wow, are you ready?)!

My response to Elena was both normal and predictable.

“Bye sweetheart, Papa loves you. Bye-bye.”

Now before we crash together into an emotional pay-dirt like euphoria, an in-the-ballpark-home-run kind of bliss, I must warn you that one might suffer strange unexplainable symptoms or even physical side effects that could leave a person temporarily paralyzed from all practical activities and rational thoughts (that might be a good thing). What I’m about to share could cause you to feel like the words my father used in a letter to my mother more than five decades ago. My sister and I successfully stole and read this letter out loud, amidst enthusiastic cheers, laughter, and some frantic attempts by my father to stop us. This successful reading was due in part to our bathroom having a solid-core door and sturdy lock. My dad had ended his letter to in a most masculine, Zane Gray, sort of way. He signed off with the words,

“My heart drips puddles of purple passion for you.”

XOXOX

Gordon

I’ve never met a man who loved his wife the way my father loved my mom. Their love story is far more incredible than the TV's Fringe! It's beyond CSI solvable - they married 3 months after they met. Their love touched hundreds of lives!

Ok, so here goes . . . I’m back on track to telling one of the greatest love sagas ever recorded . . . trust me.

After Elena tossed me her goodbye, I instinctively echoed back, to my future golf/tennis/cycling and running partner; sweetheart # 2, Elena:

“Bye-bye sweetheart. Papa loves you.”

I’ve said these words at least 2,012 times to my little girl, but this time . . . wait, just one more side street, please? Thanks.

WARNING: Be careful if you’re reading this while driving. Please! Friends don’t let friends drive and read! Ok, the rest of this story is commercial free, promise!

Elena’s flickering, fluttering eyelashes framed her dark chocolate eyes, her eyebrows traveled up and down in metronome-perfect synchronization to her cowgirl “queen-of-the-rodeo” goodbye wave. She then proclaimed with Charlton Heston-like-sincerity . . . did I mention that Elena’s voice was, at that precise moment, the most “wonderful-in-all-the-universe" perfect tone, pitch, and accent? It was so awe-tingling-ly-ly beautiful that I’m sure even Heaven held its breath. Elena said, and I quote,

“I love you.”

Let me repeat, Elena said to me this morning (March 11, 2010),

“I love you.”

Today (March 11) was the first time humankind has ever heard my little Elena utter these revolutionary words. Her mother instantly pumped out pure high-octane joy, like an Indy 500 racecar sucking in fuel at 3 gal. per second during a pit-stop (Honesty friends, I know almost nothing about auto racing)! A mixture of jealousy, happiness, unadulterated laughter, and a lot of well founded pride flooded her eyes. As for me, I cried, I died, and I was reborn again and again (Like, over and over and over and . . . .).

This is one of the greatest days of my life. Elena proclaimed those words so easily, so freely. They are a priceless gift to me, no strings attached. Elena had zero awareness that I would blog, brag, and annoy others by going on and on and on and on about this world shattering, life transforming experience; possibly the world’s greatest love saga!

Hey everybody, did you hear the news? Elena said “I love you” for the first time today! And she said it first to her grandpa!

Later, while tooling down the road, (Old guys lingo for driving.) my phone’s digital recorder zoomed into action. Words bubbled and burst from my os (Latin for opening, or mouth). Small scraps of paper (Fred Meyer gas receipts to be exact) voluntarily enlisted as a primitive Beta iPad, and my #1 sweetheart Laura, had to put her ICU patient on hold so she could take my urgent phone call. She listened as I ranted and raved about how real, lasting, and worth everything love really is (Don’t worry, the patient is still alive)! Here’s a personal truth-note: Laura was genuinely thrilled that I was the first one Elena said these words to. My wife is such a saint! A sexy one too (Just joking – not really. Ok, she really is! If your face has presently begun to resemble a prune, take five, then smile because Bruce is bonkers over Laura. Ok? Feel better now?)!

I’m thinking about some words I jotted down a few days ago; I saw them this afternoon on a scrap of paper next to my black leather recliner. They still illuminate my brain. Their dark, cursive ink whispers,

“Love gives because it wants to, is free to, and chooses to.”

An worn-out old man, nearly a century in years, once said,

“We love because He first loved us.”

Yes! Love is a gift we are able to give because someone loved us before we even knew how to say thank-you.

It was maybe fifteen or so years ago that I restated to Elena’s father, my son Marcus, some words I’d read in a Hippy-type book: A saying that concisely expresses reason why we exist:

“Love people and use things, never love things and use people.”

This morning my little Elena revived an ancient, anti-Greek, Hebrew philosophy. It’s one of those original Avatar-like truths: A Genesis concept that says that physical things are good, not evil. If you’ve no clue what I’m pontificating about your probably much safer and saner than me. Don’t worry it’s only my dislike for Greek beliefs that became A priori voodoo (mistruths) for almost all of the Middle Ages (I still think Dark Ages is a better phrase) and the basis of what most world religions define as sin –"don’t touch, look, taste or listen to . . . ." Any-how, that’s a coffee date, right?

Elena has successfully performed a permanent catheterization of this timeless truth, deep into the left ventricle of my cor (Latin; core; M.EN, hert; E., heart). Undisputedly, the most important chamber is the left ventricle, I think. Nevertheless, I don’t believe we are truly human, only potentially so, until we are in real, authentic friendship.

Elena wants to be my friend and I am hers. I am a very blessed man. What a gift I’ve been given! And I did absolutely nothing to “earn” this gift. I don’t think I deserve it. I doubt it has anything to do with deserving or not deserving –IT’S SIMPLY A VERY PURE, GENUINE, GIFT! A freebee from a little girl I love very much! What a grand memory.

I hope this story has blessed your life. Try Loving back as much as you are loved. Have a great day! And for sure, re-read Shel’s short story, The Giving Tree (LINK).