every year as long as I will live

image: mommyaddictedtoscraps

thank you to patricia for sending me this story:

I've got a part-time job as a telemarketer. Not the greatest of jobs but, not working of comission anymore, I've actually started to like it. Everyday I get to talk to people and hear them telling me stories from their lives. Stories I'd never hear if I hadn't tried desperately to sell them a subscription of a newspaper.

A few weeks ago I had a very interesting conversation with an old man.
I asked him if he was interesting in getting a subscription of the local paper. He replied by telling me that if I was wondering why he had hoist the flag it was because his wife would have been turning 85 today if she were still alive.

I told him that I really thought that was a very sweet thing to do. The old man agreed and said "I will keep doing this every year as long as I will live."

While listening to him telling me about his beloved wife a wamth spread in my chest and my eyes were prickling. Eventually I wished him a nice day and ended the call.

I had a smile glued to my face for the rest of the day. Not because he bought the subscription but because of the picture I had stuck in my head of an old man looking up at the flag pole in his backyard and smiling.

This made me believe a little bit in love. True love that lasts forever.

i need

ffffound

the love you have for a best friend

thank you to T for the lovely email + images...

Dear LeLove,

Let me just start off by saying I absolutely adore your blog and look forward to new posts and updates when I'm sitting at my desk at work with nothing to do. ( and luckily its one of the sites I actually have access to.)

I know a lot of the posts are dealing with boyfriend/girlfriend romantic love and relationships. As much as I enjoy reading the cute, sad, touching, amazing stories about this type of love, I think an extremely special form of love has been left out.

The love I am referring to is the love you have for a best friend. It’s unique and so important to have. It’s more than just affection for someone; it’s a deep underlying connection. The comfort of knowing you can tell them everything, and not have worry about being judged. The first person you tell when something exciting happens, or when something scary happens. The person you turn to when you need to vent. The person you can laugh at because they will just laugh back at you. The person you need to tell things to so your brain doesn’t explode. The person who can make you feel better when you’re having a tough day, the one you turn to for advice. . The person you can have full conversations with by merely exchanging glances. And maybe most importantly, the one you tell all your secrets to, especially boy secrets.

Someone once told me they thought it was creepy how my best friends and I said “I love you” to each other often. I told them: I think when you love someone; you can’t help but sound at least a little creepy. Love is love. No matter if it’s for your Mom, your cat, a boy, or your best friend. And when you are lucky enough to have people to love, and be loved, you need to let them know how thankful you are for that, and how much you love them back...

- T.

have a LOVEly weekend

weheartit

i will be away for this long weekend. have a great labor day!

xo

miss her when she’s not there

ffffound

You may not be her first, her last, or her only. She loved before she may love again. But if she loves you now, what else matters? She’s not perfect - you aren’t either, and the two of you may never be perfect together but if she can make you laugh, cause you to think twice, and admit to being human and making mistakes, hold onto her and give her the most you can. She may not be thinking about you every second of the day, but she will give you a part of her that she knows you can break - her heart. So don’t hurt her, don’t change her, don’t analyze and don’t expect more than she can give. Smile when she makes you happy, let her know when she makes you mad, and miss her when she’s not there." -Bob Marley

thanks kate!

would you...

unknown source

nice guys finish last

image: iacmusic

this is fucking it, you are in love with me

Tonight I am thinking about love. More specifically, love lost. Not even lost, really. Love not realized. Or at least not realized until it was too late.

I have a male friend, Kyle. Kyle emotionally exploded on me tonight. Told me that he’s sick of finishing last, he’s too nice a guy for that. And he was so infuriated that after all these years I hadn’t given him a chance.

This is what happens when you give the guy who doesn’t drink that often a few Buds and a shot of Fernet.

He spoke to me about how he was always there for me, always providing a shoulder to cry on or a bar tab to pick up. Anything I needed, because he was being a caring and good friend. Kyle talked about how he respected everything about me, especially my imperfections. He said my imperfections were what made me perfect for him.

“I even know you’re an alcoholic,” he said. “And I don’t care, you’re still perfect.”

You want to know why nice guys finish last? It’s because they aren’t willing to take a chance, they’re too tied to their rules. They see their girl at her most vulnerable moment, and instead of doing what they perceive as a dick move, they put their arms around her and they hold her. They listen to her weep and they don’t take control of the situation. She’s too precious to cut off. Let her weep.

Let me tell you this: nothing makes a broken woman feel more beautiful than to have a man swoop in and push her up against a wall to tell her how much better she is than that. To kiss her, I mean really kiss her, regardless of what she might think about that. You know why nice guys finish last? It’s because when a guy named Bayne leaves you for no good reason and you feel like you’ve been reduced to nothing, my nice guy won’t come over and say the things I really need to hear to understand that he loves me, I mean really loves me. Us ladies, we know we’re beautiful, we know we’re intelligent, we know we’re worth it and we’ll find “him” someday. What we really need to hear and more importantly feel (at that moment — from you, the nice guy)) is that we’re sexy, that our inner organs that separate us from you guys are actually worth something. That we’re so beautiful that you can’t and don’t care whether or not that kiss you’ve so desperately wanted to plant on us is going to ruin our friendship. We want you, the nice guy, to rebel against your rules and just do what feels right. Take control of the situation and tell us that this is fucking it, you are in love with me. You are so in love with me that you are so unbelievably ready to ruin our friendship for a chance at love. That you are willing to pick up that bat and attempt to hit the ball out of the fucking stadium. Because either you strike out or you hit a home run. No one wants to sit in the dugout. But you don’t. You sit in the dugout and you tell us that we’re pretty, and not fat. That we’re worth it. And that Bayne is just stupid and doesn’t know what he’s missing. You’re too nice. You’re too good of a friend. Be a man. Make the call. Try your best to force us to love you. Because in the end, you’re right. Nice guys do finish last. So how about you buck up and become something else. Because otherwise you’re going to lose us, you’re going to lose me.

Nice guys finish last because they’re pussies.

thanks sally for sending this from: tales from the tenderloin