Love

There are lots of different types of love we experience through our lives. 

When you are born and growing up there is an unconditional love you have for your parents, grandparents, siblings and other close family members. No one teaches you how to love and what love actually means but we somehow know what it is. We learn how safe the family makes you feel both physically and emotionally. Your family accepts you for who you are and will always love you.

We learn ways to express our love to them by observing others. We watch people giving hugs and kisses and saying "I love you" to each other. This then becomes a natural way of life and we sometimes say these words without really thinking about them.

When we start at school we do have a kind of love for our teachers. I remember all of my primary school teachers because they were such a big part of my life. They looked after me for a large period of my childhood and you begin to trust in them and rely on them. When you are very young they are almost like your surrogate family. They will look after you if you get hurt, they show you how to do things and they will even give you a hug when you are sad. 

As you grow up you start to make firm friendships and you grow to love these friends. These friends help you find your place within a group and help you develop your personality and style. If you are lucky you can make friends at primary school that stay with you for the rest of your life. They become almost like family. As a teenager you spend more time with your friends than your family and they help you shape the person you want to become.

You then move on to the first 'love of your life'. Usually this happens during your teen years and some do stay together and go on to spend the rest of their lives together. These people are the first ones that you share all your love with and are the only people that can make you want to leave your family. If you are really lucky all your family will like them as well and in time they will also start to love them in their own way. 

Then the circle begins as you move on to be parents yourself. The love you have for your children is breathtaking. They become your world and you would do anything to keep them safe and protect them from any harm. You begin to see how your parents felt when you were small and you start to see why they acted the way they did. At times you thought they were being unfair and over strict but now you see it through new eyes.
Watching your child develop and grow fills you with pride and the most powerful love there is. 

For those parents who lose a baby or child the love they have is still the same they just don't have their child with them to physically show it to. They still feel pride and love and dream of what they would have been doing. Their arms ache every day to hold their child and to show them the world, they yearn to be able to be doing the everyday things; The school runs, the after school clubs, cleaning up scrapes, wiping away the tears, telling them off. 

You then move on to the part of your life, where I am at, when you become a grandparent. WOW, what an amazing feeling. The love you feel for these little humans is enormous. You can have all the joys of doing things with them but without the worry of having to deal with the every day discipline. You still tell them off and don't let them get away with everything but you are able to do the more fun things. 
Being a nanna is the most awesome thing and at the moment I am proud to be able to say I currently have 4 wonderful, amazing, gorgeous grandchildren. I have 3 beautiful granddaughters that I get to share special moments with and I have a very handsome little grandson who is my angel in heaven. I cant share time with Charlie physically but I do find myself talking to him and telling him things on a regular basis. 

When you look back over your life it is really good to look at all the different people you have loved and continue to love. We don't always tell each other we love each other enough,  Please try and tell your family you love them as much as you can whilst you have them with you. 

I love my family with all my heart and would be lost without them.