September 8 Were the Beatles Right?

You've know the Beatles song, "Love, love, love, da da da da da, love, love, love, da da da da da, love is all you need." It was on shuffle repeat as I walked past my familiar early morning movers and shakers including John and Mary (pseudonyms) who move slowly but surely each morning while holding hands. In my opinion, they are the quintessential couple in our neighborhood. Always a smile and a good morning even when I doubt they are always happy and worry about the impacts of ongoing medical interventions. Their smiles would suggest that they day is off to a good start if they have the chance to go for a walk together in the early morning. If they music playing in their ears as they walked along, I think it would be closer to the Turtles lyrics, "So happy together, I can't see me loving nobody but you for all my life.

 

As I walked a bit further, I saw movers at the home of neighbors whose marriage ended before their wedding album was probably even delivered. I thought about the dissolution of my own marriage, without a trace, as if it never happened. There was a lot running through my brain as the Beatles shuffled in again and I hummed along to, "Is, is is, do, do do, do, is love all you need?" 

As I made coffee, I  remembered a NYTimes story from the summer suggesting love, like weeds, looks different for different people at different times.  Sari Bashi writes about her life as an Israeli-Palestinian family in the West Bank.  There are many powerful lines in her stories of love transcending politics, yet her most powerful line may be: 

        As the world continues to explode around us and my spouse’s family in Gaza struggles to survive, I         feel a fierce, desperate gratitude that we can still love each other. Love isn’t enough to protect us —         or anyone — but we plan to use it as a shield for as long as we can."  

It is possible that the revered songsters of long ago may have been influenced by hormones and a search for catchy song lyrics. But, I want to start this week in September remembering that love, the powerful force of caring about other humans is at the center of caring and the epicenter of human relationships even if it is not all you need!