When they love somebody you don’t like – a lesson in hope.

Someone very close to me, fell in love with someone I deemed, from the moment I met them, as wholly unsuitable.

Over the years, I was proved right in my assertion quite a few times. And every time, whilst I watched as someone I loved had their heart broken, I secretly sang an “i told you so” in my head.

But the thing is…no matter how maligned and how awfully things spun out and around and within and throughout, their love remained.

It persevered. It evolved. It grew. It gained strength from the tribulations it had been put through over the years. It bent and molded itself around the gaps that were created. It filled up the holes that had been stomped through it.

The other day, I was privileged to sit and see this love in action. A casual lunch, punctuated with a lot of laughter and some rather fine pizza.

And it dawned on me. Yes, we are all older and wiser, and have all forgiven each other for so much. (Let’s remember, at one point, I had threatened to do my best to destroy the person my friend loved…nobody is exactly blame-free here). It dawned on me in the afternoon sunshine that this was a love that had grown.

It’s easy enough to be in love. It’s harder to be in active love. It’s even harder to keep that active love alive, especially in a world where love can be so transient.

And yet, here was the evidence. There have been some dark times through this love. There have been bright days and bad days.

But, this love has evolved.

And you know what? That gave me…