All You Need is Love

A Beatles song tells us “love is all you need.” Sometimes I’m not so certain about this bold statement: I crave my work, among other things. But still, isn’t love the greatest necessity of all?

As I think back over the course of my life, I see it in all its guises as it enters and then as it stays; most often, for all of my sixty-eight years, love refuses to be left behind. I can’t imagine losing any of my dearest ones, except, unfortunately, to the biggest and most final departure of all.

Still, though many of them are gone (my mother and my father, my grandparents on both sides, my beloved aunt Joan and my best friend Myrna), all of their love endures, if only because my memories are still vivid. My children, two grandchildren and two step-grandchildren also hold a special place in my life, all of them calling me “Nana”—the name I also gave to my paternal grandmother, who unstintingly bestowed attention and affection upon me throughout my childhood when my mother could not. And, too, my fondness for my younger sister continues to grow, in spite of some inevitable sibling squabbles.

My friends remain tight by my side, as I recognize their importance to me even more as the years go by, even when we live far apart. And, perhaps most important of all, my affection for my husband grows ever deeper day by day—defined by the sort of tenderness that can evolve in both marriage and partnership.

Last, but not least, are my three Dalmatians: Breeze, Cody and Mac—two brothers and their mother. As I look into their expressive spotted faces and their soulful eyes, I see not only their love for me, but mine for them reflected back, as well. And isn’t this the greatest sort of adoration of all? The circle created when others love you and you love them back in equal measure.

On Magical Mystery Tour, McCartney and Lennon’s song “All You Need Is Love” begins with the lyrics below. It appears that in addition to just plain feeling good, love brings growth to us as well:

“There’s nothing you can do that can’t be done
Nothing you can sing that can’t be sung
Nothing you can say, but you can learn how to play the game
It’s easy
Nothing you can make that can’t be made
No one you can save that can’t be saved
Nothing you can do, but you can learn how to be you in time
It’s easy

love is all you need.”

The following video clip depicts just that sort of affection. True, it is love between a dog and his or her human partner, but that doesn’t matter because I think it applies to all our relationships. Without doubt, intimacy is the key to the fullest sort of life.

Hope you have fun watching!

Yours,