What does it really mean to love?

I've probably caught you on the right day for this. A beautiful bride, a handsome Prince, the pomp and the ceremony that we British can do in our sleep. Yet beyond and beneath this is a tale of two young people at the beginning of a journey that one hope's will last a lifetime. The talk today is of love, that mysterious force that binds the universe together. What is it? More important, what isn't it? I'd suggest it's the latter question we should concern ourselves with. What happens when the rush dies? When those early months of breathless encounters morph into the gentler streams? At what point do we forget to treasure our partner and start treating them as part of the furniture, like a comfy pair of old slippers we can't do without. Now I know that the early intensity has to fade. I mean, imagine what the world would be like if it didn't. But what I'm driving at is the simple fact that whilst we won't always have that fever, we'd still do well to remember to treasure the one we're with. Not always easy, not always natural. But here's the thing; I've found that when I step beyond myself, when I remember to treat Joy just a little bit like a Princess and put her on that pedestal, we end up creating something that endures.