Experiencing Unconditional Love

It's not often we are lucky enough to have someone in our life who offers unconditional love. I was thinking today of two women I have known who did that - my great-great-Aunt Kate and my younger sister, Betty.

Both of them were high maintenance, emotionally. Our whole family knew that Aunt Kate would do anything for you but that she expected a lot in return. She was emotionally needy. My sis was like that, too.

The unconditional love they gave was similar, as well.

I know that I could have gone to my sis and told her I had done something terrible, really really terrible. She would have cried with me. She would have said, "But you didn't mean it!" And she would have believed that, with all her being. And then we would have begun discussing what we, or I, needed to do to "fix" it.

With Aunt Kate, it would have been similar. Her reaction would have been a bit different. Where my sis and I would have discussed the options, Aunt Kate would have told me what I had to do. But again, she would have cried with me, told me she knew I "didn't mean it," and then helped me deal with it.

Neither one would have judged me. Needless to say, I miss both of them. Aunt Kate passed on when I was in my 30s and my sis just passed on in 2010.

What I got from each of them was wonderful. I wish I could be like them but I have a long way to go before I reach even a fraction of their level of compassion. Still, it's something to aim for, isn't it?