Love is patient, love is kind..

This past weekend I flew to Colorado to attent to the wedding of a friend that I have known since I was five. I was skeptical of the idea of them getting married, my friend and her boyfriend. They had been together on and off for the past ten years, and through it all I remember thinking that she deserved better and that he just did not appreciate her. I went there to give her my support and love, but all with an arched eyebrow of resentment to him. I knew I would be cold to him the way I was when I had first met him, still angry for the pain he had caused her in the past, but than I started watching their interaction. The quiet way he stood by her, smiling at her. She would ask him to please do this or that, and he would say "sure" with a smile and kiss her. My resentment started to melt off slowly, but my skepticism persisted until I spoke to her aunt, and it all started to make sense. Last year my friend lost a baby, she was 5 weeks. She didn't plan it and, didn't know it, until she lost it. Her aunt told me how he wept, how sad he was and how devastated he was. She fell apart, but he held her up, and shortly after he proposed. I didn't realize he proposed shortly after. Her aunt and I came to the same conclusion at the same time, the tragedy made him become a man. I have always said that real love stands by you when things are good and everyone is smiling, but more importantly love stands by you when you feel like your soul is breaking in two. Love makes you become a man in order to hold your woman while she weeps. I have always stood by this point of view but had never actually seen proof of it and was begining to question its existance. Fortunately I went to Colorado. She was having a hard time, and he not only stood by her but said, I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you, he said this even with her depression, the fact that she gained over 50 pounds, and not to mention her mood swings. That is beautiful, that is what I kept in mind when he held her in front of the pastor and said "I do". As the tears fell down my cherry red bride's maid dress I thanked God for her having found that love, and also for showing me that that love does exist and is worth fighting for. This is a refreshing notion for me, single but hopeful. I now know even better than before what I want. I want all the things the pastor said "I want love that is patient that is kind, love that always stands up for you and is by you no matter the cost." That's real love, and I will forever be grateful to her for giving me hope.