What Is Love? One-Line Interviews with Friends

Love is watching someone fade from grey to white, to basic needs and body fluids.

Love is choosing somebody who may choose drugs, work, or food instead of you.

Love is getting up at 3:00 A.M. to clean your dog’s vomit together after its first seizure in 13 days.

Love is buying lube to make them more comfortable.

Love is drawing the perfect heart on their cast.

Love is putting on a brave face when you know that you’re hurting but they’re hurting more.

Love is hating their uncle and vowing to beat him up if you ever see him again.

Love is eating their mom’s wretched cooking and still saying “Mmm, delicious.”

Love is going out to the lake with them even though you can’t swim.

Love is making love and accidentally hitting your head against the headboard of the bed.

Love is stopping when it hurts.

Love is pushing through the hurt anyway.

Love stains.

Love is spring cleaning the house till your back gives out.

Love is vanilla-scented massage oil until your fingers ache from rubbing.

Love is driving them to the hospital.

Love is holding their hair back over the toilet for 42 minutes.

Love is changing the diaper even when it’s not your turn.

Love is holding your tongue when they keep forgetting to close the cap on the toothpaste.

Love is letting them sleep even though you want them to touch you.

Love is waking them up from a nightmare.

Love is identifying their body when the black bag is unzipped.

Love is their name in your will.

~

Love is sick, reckless, and harrowing at times…

and love is work.

Some people don’t want to work, and that’s on them.

For the ones that do work for it… love prevails.