Since the beginning of time, mankind has been trying to define the simple word called "Love". As we all know, love is complicated and the word itself can be used to describe your emotions for many things, it is most likely one of most used word in our vocabulary to describe our emotions but it is also very often the most abused word. In my opinion, there are degrees of true love, the love that you feel for your child or grandchildren is different than that which you may feel for another person, a friend, a spouse. I am sure, we have each contemplated the word, "Love" and have our own definition. I recently heard the true meaning of love, most likely the most profound definition of love that I have witnessed. It did not come from a learned person, or a book of philosophy, but from a mechanic that has made his living tearing down engines. Not an educated man, but still a very wise man and a person that has my respect and admiration. Although, this man is legally my brother in law, he is more than that to me, he is my brother Cliff.
If you are not aware of the situation, my sister Dorothy is suffering from memory loss most likely due from some mini strokes that she had several years ago. Prior to going to Colorado for Don's memorial service, he had told me that Dorothy's condition was increasingly getting worse. Arriving in Colorado, I realized what he was telling me was fact, in comparison to the last time that I was down to visit, her condition had worsened. Every morning that I was there, Cliff and she would be the first to arrive at Don's place, we would sit and visit. She could not comprehend that we had lost Don and as well she would have trouble remembering who people were. We would sit on the couch and visit,she would ask about Don and either Cliff or I would tell her that Don had passed away and she would cry, we would unsuccessfully hold back ours. She re-lived his death many times each day, she will never complete the mourning process, because each day she experiences it as if it were yesterday. Cliff is very patient, very caring and watches over her. Despite how many times she asks the same question, Cliff patiently repeats the answer to the question, never raising his voice as if it were a normal conversation. To give you an idea of the cruelty of this disease, they were watching the Super Bowl, she picked up the phone and ask Cliff what Don's telephone number was because she wanted to know if he was watching the game. Each day, they drive out past Don's home, so Dort can see his place and make sure the flowers are o.k. even though it is still winter.
Just prior to my return to Alaska, everyone else had left to return home, I was out to visit them. Their home is the same as it has been over the past thirty years. If you can remember, when Cliff speaks, it is always slow and very deliberate, sometimes it takes forever for him to tell you something, but usually it is a funny story or a lesson to learn.
I will never forget when we bought our first Ford Supercab and camper. At that time, Colorado had a mandatory safety inspection where you had to have your vehicle checked and stickered every six months for safety. Cliff was a certified station for doing the inspection so when the truck was a year old, I took it in to him for the inspection. He checked everything, headlight alignment, windshield wipers, and finally put it on the rack to check the exhaust system and to pull the tires and check the brakes. When, he was done and my truck passed, he applied the sticker to the windshield and then turned to me and in his manner said, "You drive pretty fast don't you"? How can you answer a question like that,so I acknowledged that I did drive fast. His reply was "I can tell, because you have brand new brakes on a truck that is a year old, I don't guess you use them much"
We were sitting there in his home visiting, talking about the old days and how many guns we had traded, he remembered them all. Dort was laying on the couch and had fallen asleep, so I asked him how he was doing and if there was anything that we could do to help. With those blue eyes of his, he looked me directly in the eyes and never blinked one time, his words were: "Brother, I am not a religious man, but I believe, I don't go to church but that does not stop me from believing, when I was a young man, I had an argument with one of those preachers. I wanted to marry your sister and before he would marry us, he wanted to talk to me. He asked me if I was going to love her until death do you part. I looked at him square in the eye and said no sir, I am not! The preacher looked surprised and asked what I meant, so I told him, I am not going to love her until death parts us, I am going to love her through eternity, we will walk together hand in hand" he then looked over at Dort and after a bit, said and "By God that is what we will do, I will always be with her". That is love.