Catholic Singles

I LOVE YOU
BY: MARK ANTHONY ROSOLOWSKI

In Spanish it is "Le amo," in Czech you say "Miluji te," in Germany you would whisper "Ich liebe sie," in Vietnam you would tell the person, "Toi yeu ban," and in America you say "I love you." Words that are easy to say, but love is not in the words, but true love is in the actions behind the words.

Personally I do have troubles with saying those words at times, it is not so much that the feeling is not there, but to say those words means a lot to me and I have to be able to show that love through action, not just saying the words.

They say “Actions speak louder then words,” a true statement, but you should also add, “Actions can take the place of words.” As my wife was getting sicker, I found that I was expressing my love for her in many different ways: I would look into her eyes as I would lift her into and out of bed, I would see the pain in them, but I also saw the brightness that she knew what I was doing was out of love. As I gave her a bath, lifting her into and out of the tub, as I changed her diaper, as I prepared her meals, as I helped her feed herself, we would look at each other, I felt the love in her eyes, as I am sure my eyes radiated the same love to her. We still had our arguments, we would both become frustrated and angry over the situation and would lash out at each other, but these were short lived with longer hugs, as we realized we were not upset with each other but with what was happening.

It was during one of those times, we both were just tired, on edge and feeling frustrated, as I gave her a bath we were arguing, finally I just left her sitting in the tub and went to sit in the living room. I was watching television when she called me in because the water was cold, I just was going to fill the tub with some hot water and when I leaned over t turn the water on she grabbed my arm and pulled me into the tub fully dressed. That action broke the tension and we realized how deep and true our love was.

After she died, I was shocked at how many people made comments on how good of a husband I was, how few people would have stayed with their spouse as I stayed with my wife, how few would have taken care of their spouse as I had done.

When I hear that all I can think is that those people do not love each other, I think how can you leave your loved one because they are sick or in need? How could you say, “I love you.” to someone and then just leave when they need you the most? How can a person make a vow to God, to love someone in sickness and in health then run when sickness comes?

Maybe, I am just not smart enough to figure it out, or maybe, I take the gift of love from God as He says. “I love you,” and gives me the greatest gift of all, another person to care for and to love.

Think back to the book of Genesis, God saw that Adam was alone and lonely, Adam was put into a deep sleep as God removed a rib from Adam and created woman. When I listen to that story now, I think about this God used a rib from Adams side. It was not from his feet to be beneath him, from his back to stay behind him, or from his head to rule over him. She was taken from his side, to walk next to him, to be held by him, to be taken care of by him, and most importantly to be loved by him.