March 18: Love Springs Eternal by Debby Giusti

Spring is just around the corner, and as Alfred, Lord Tennyson wrote, "In the spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love." Of course, Lord Tennyson penned that line in the 1800s. If alive today, he'd probably cut and paste to end up with a generic, "Everyone's thinking about love." Less gender bias, no age-discrimination and definitely more PC. No matter the lines or when they were written, at this time of year, Love Is In the Air, which is what Perry Como first crooned to our parents and grandparents back in 1958.

Over the years, writers and composers have focused on love. Do a Google search for love, and you'll get 79,000,000 results! Evidently everyone's talking-and writing-about the subject. Whether classical literature or category romance, art, music or Internet blogs, love is the topic of choice.

Ask any neonatal nurse and she'll tell you about an infant's innate need for love. In years past, premature infants confined to incubators and isolated from their parents languished from the lack of human contact. Once the "failure to thrive" phenomenon was recognized, policies changed. Now the most fragile of infants are touched and caressed. Despite overwhelming medical complications, these babies survive and thrive because of the power of love.

That same phenomenon plays out in nursing homes. Without a caring and attentive staff, elderly patients--alienated from their families through death or distance or indifference--can and do experience that same failure to thrive. Even the heartiest of souls lose the will to live in the absence of love.

Why? Because love is at the essence the human condition. Love gives meaning to our lives. It uplifts and frees and transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary.

 Love is universal. It transcends borders or boundaries and is found in all cultures and races. Multi-faceted and diverse, love defies logic or science or the laws of nature.

 Never self-centered, true love focuses on others and seeks the greater good. It manifests in service, in heroism, in a profound sense of duty and dedication, in social justice, in commitment and in faithfulness.

Love begets love and is never exclusive, never alienates, but rather embraces, accepts and affirms. Love can only be viewed in the positive. Any negative implication is not love, but the absence thereof that springs from pride or fear or self-centeredness.

As romance readers, we understand the power of love. We also know the pull of a good love story that transports us to a world where dreams come true, love conquers all and heroes and heroines live happily ever after.

Now what's my story? I'm definitely in the lived-happily-ever-after category. I had two wonderful parents who loved me unconditionally. My mother taught me about God and the power of prayer and that life should be lived to the fullest. From my father, a career officer in the US Army, I learned about duty and commitment and self-sacrifice.

My hubby's an Army guy as well. He's also my hero and the love of my life. We've been blessed with three wonderful children who are better people than I could ever hope to be, two beautiful grandchildren who fill my heart with joy and a great son-in-law and beautiful daughter-in-law.
Do I believe in love? You bet!

Now what about you? Tell me your love story or your thoughts on the following questions:

• Looking back, do you recognize a time when you were transformed through the love of another?
• Do we have to love ourselves before we can truly love another?
• Does love need to be experienced before it can be understood?
• What is the greatest love?

Thanks for stopping by and sharing your comments.

Wishing you abundant blessings and lots of love!
Debby

My March release, MIA: MISSING IN ATLANTA, is dedicated to our brave men and women in uniform so I chose pictures for this blog that highlight their dedication and commitment. Please join your thanks with mine for the outstanding and courageous jobs they do each day. God bless them and God bless the United States of America!

About Debby Giusti:

Debby Giusti is a medical technologist who loves working with test tubes and petri dishes almost as much as she loves to write. Growing up as an army brat, Debby met and married her husband—then a captain in the army—at Fort Knox, Kentucky. Together they traveled the world, raised three wonderful army brats of their own and now see the military tradition carried on in their son who's also in the army. Always busy with church, school and community activities, Debby knew it was time to settle down and write her first book when she and her family moved to Atlanta, GA. Despite occasional moments of wanderlust, Debby spends most of her time writing inspirational romantic suspense for the Steeple Hill line.