A teacher was having a conversation with his students, when he noticed that most of the youngsters had the same negative idea about marriage.

Their argument was that romance is the only thing that keeps a couple together, and they would rather end a relationship when romance fades than submit to the sad monotony of marriage.

The master told them he respected their opinions, but decided to tell them the following story: “My parents were together for 55 years. One morning, my mother was going downstairs to make breakfast, and had a heart attack. My father ran, held her the best way he managed to and, struggling, put her inside the car...

He drove as fast as he could to the hospital, but unfortunately, once they got there she was already dead. During her funeral, he did not speak. He spent all the time staring into the distance. He hardly cried.

My brothers and I tried, in vain, to break the ice remembering funny moments we had spent together.

During the burial, my father was feeling a bit better, so he put his hand on the coffin and said, with a voice full of emotion:

‘My children, these were good 55 years...

No one can speak about true love if they have not lived with someone for a long time.’

He paused for a second to dry his tears, and then continued:

‘We went through countless crisis. I changed jobs, we renewed all the furniture when we sold the house and moved to the city.

We shared the happiness of seeing our children finishing university, we cried next to each other when our beloved relatives passed away.

We prayed together in hospitals’ waiting rooms, we gave strength to each other in times of pain, we exchanged embraces every Christmas, we forgave each other’s faults…

My children, now she is gone, but I am happy. Do you know why? Because she left before me, she did not have to feel the agony of burying me, and did not have to spend her last years alone, without me.

It is I who will have to feel this pain, and I thank God for that. I love her so much I could not stand the idea of her suffering like that...’

When my father stopped talking, my brothers and I had our faces covered with tears. We hugged him and he comforted us, saying:

‘It is all right, my children, we can go home now. It has been a good day.’

Finally, the teacher concluded:

“On that day, I understood what true love is. It is beyond romanticism, there is not much of eroticism, but it is the work and care of two people when they are really committed to each other.”

When the teacher finished speaking, the young students did not have any arguments. That kind of love was something they still did not have any knowledge of.

*  *  *

True love reveals itself in small gestures, day-by-day and everyday.

True love is not selfish, proud nor have the desire of possession over the other person.

The one who truly loves prefers to suffer than to make the other suffer. Prefers to renounce his or her own happiness in order to promote the partner’s happiness.

Some might say that the one that acts this way has no self-esteem, but self-esteem does not mean individualism.

What usually happens with the individualist, in case of death, is that the person will lay on the coffin saying: “And now, what is going to happen to me?”

The one that truly loves and worries about the beloved one asks: “What is going to happen to her?” or, “What is going to happen to him?”

To think more about the other than to think about yourself shows your love is big enough.

What about you, are you building true love in your marriage?

   Written by Spiritist Moment Team, based on story of unknown author