The Ultimate in Romance

Get out the hanky. The following is one of the most moving passages ever written about love. In Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor E. Frankel recounts his survival in WWII German Concentration Camps. It is a particularly brutal winter. He is underfed, undernourished; a doctor toiling in a prison gang line. In this circumstance where there was only peril and depravity- his appreciation of beauty and love was enhanced, not diminished.

“Occasionally I looked at the sky, where the stars were fading and the pink light of the morning was beginning to spread beyond a dark bank of clouds. But my mind clung to my wife’s image, imagining it with uncanny acuteness. I heard her answering me, saw her smile, her frank and encouraging look. Real or not, her look was then more luminous than the sun which was beginning to rise."
"A thought transfixed me: for the first time in my life I saw the truth as it is set into song by so many poets, proclaimed as the final wisdom by so many thinkers. The truth- that love is the ultimate and highest goal to which man can aspire. Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of man is through love and in love. I understand how a man who has nothing left in this world still may know bliss, be it only for a brief moment, in the contemplation of his beloved. In a position of utter desolation, when man cannot express himself in positive action, when his only achievement may consist in enduring his sufferings in the right way- an honorable way- in such a position man can, through loving contemplation of the image he carries of his beloved, achieve fulfillment.”

The title of this blog A Very Good Life was chosen to keep doors to topics open. I hope you understand why this post was important on this day. When we pass from this life- all that is left is our soul- it is the responsibility of each of us to make our own a good one.

I wish you all love. Once true love writes its story on your heart- it can neither leave or be taken. Because love transforms the person it touches, great love will be carried with you everywhere, every day you live.

Happy Valentine’s Day! A GREAT big hug to everyone who sends me notes. Including those who ask me not o publish. To keep private. All comments are blessings: cherished and respected.

The rose is 'About Face'

All images on this post are by Alta Loma photographer Gene Sasse, used with permission. http://genesasse.com/