Love Part IV

Love is a many splendored thing.

Love can move mountains.

Love has inspired great works of art.

Love pisses you off.

Love hurts.

Love springs Eternal.

Love is.

And I, dear readers, am in love with love.

The good, the bad, the poignant, and the enraptured.

Remember, Love makes the world go around.

Here are this month’s selections for my exploration of my passion for love.


Songs:

“On the Wings of Love” – Jeffrey Osborne A rich, sumptuous song that makes me melt into the lyrics, fly into my dreams, and want to fall in love again and again.

“A Whole New World” – Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle from Disney’s Aladdin A magical, mystical, romantic tale of two young lovers exploring the world and each other. This is Disney so it’s not lewd, just purely sweet yet still passionate. I often cry when I hear this version… in a good way!

“I Love You” – Climax Blues Band My husband’s favorite love song as I think he strongly identifies with the lyrics. Since he does, I do. If you haven’t recently, give this one a listen. Awesome.


Movies:

The Way We Were – Have you seen this movie with a strikingly handsome Robert Redford and possibly the most attractive Barbra Streisand? Tender, romantic, silly, and heart-wrenching, this movie is jam-packed with emotion-inducing material. I’ve only seen it once, but it has stuck with me for decades.

Field of Dreams – Yes, I know this Kevin Costner vehicle is a baseball movie, but it is so much more. It is a love story to baseball, Iowa, father/son relationships, friendship, familial ties, and has a very sweet look at marriage between Costner’s Ray and Amy Madigan’s Annie. This movie is one I am compelled to watch whenever I see it on television.

Love Story – It’s sappy, extraordinarily and almost oppressively sad, but before you get to that point, you get to watch Ryan O’Neal and Ali MacGraw fall in love as Oliver and Jenny. Love means never having to say you’re sorry.


Books:

Love Story by Erich Segal This is, of course, the book that was the basis of the movie. I picked it up from my mother-in-law when I was in high school. I knew I loved romance novels and the title drew me in easily.

My husband’s family and I were on a road trip, the reason I picked the book. I started reading the moment we left the driveway. Not two hours down the road I was finished with the book and was racked with convulsive tears.

Perhaps it’s not a book for everyone, but if you are a hopeless romantic, enjoy a fast-moving story, and believe in love, I would recommend this book.


The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank I found this in the book closet of my classroom when I was a school-aged girl. The premise was interesting to me as I was new to keeping a diary and felt compelled to read this girl’s.

Though not a “traditional” love story, this is truly a story of the love of a boy (Peter), a family (Anne’s), the friends she lived with, and, in the end, humanity. Such deep and soulful truths were penned by a young girl in the most uncivilized circumstances. Yet her beauty, innocence, turbulence, and maturation shine through to any generation who reads her words. Timeless, heartfelt, romantic, and, even at the bitter end, optimistic, this is a love story that should not be missed.

Secrets by Danielle Steel I wrote about my passion for reading DS books, but I lumped them together in one entry. I feel compelled to highlight my favorites over the months to come.

Secrets was the second novel I read by Ms. Steel. It is a rich story about actors starring in a nighttime soap opera and was written in the 1980s at the height of that genre. It’s a fun, tawdry, interesting look at this chapter of Hollywood’s history. With television nighttime soap Dallas being re-launched for a new generation, this one is worth a read!


Some might see my inclusion of a Danielle Steel novel with The Diary of Anne Frank as sacrilege, but I defend my choices. This is a post about love and the words, songs, and images that keep love alive for me daily.

Different inspirations have been derived from all of the selections I have included today and the past three editions of “Love”. Each one has molded me and my thoughts in some way. They are all vitally important in the way I perceive love, find compassion, and show love.

This is my list for the month. I am always anxious to hear from you. What are some of your favorite songs, movies, and books that deal with the topic of love in some way as you see it?

Please join me tomorrow as I continue the theme of love on Tantalizing Thursday. Chef Eddie contributes two sexy recipes that induce feelings of love from those who have dined on them. I’ll be sharing them with you tomorrow in honor of the NASCAR race from Richmond International Raceway in Virginia on Chief 187™Chatter. Remember, Virginia is for Lovers!