Back in 1984, Jennifer Rush first sang The Power of Love, the now well known and often covered rock-ballad. A smash hit across all of Europe it gained little traction in the States not even making it into the Top 50 here. This, in spite of her singing it on both The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and American Bandstand. It eventually went huge though. Ten years later it would be sitting #1 on the US charts when sung by Celine Dion as well as by such other stars as Laura Branigan and Air Supply. I hope Ms. Rush has a good contract for the song’s rights!
For the past several days one of the stanzas of this song has been banging around my mind for a variety of reasons. It’s this one:
“We’re heading for something
Somewhere I’ve never been
Sometimes I am frightened
But I’m ready to learn
Of the power of love.”
Jennifer Rush
First, in our family early May brings with it the birthdays of both our children, followed swiftly by Mothers’ Day. All causes for celebration, but which after the loss of my wife to brain cancer also carry a significant dose of melancholy. My wife filled a lot of roles in her life, but she loved none more than her role as mother. From the beginning of our shared life together she was a working Mom. Educated as an interior designer she made that her first job. A few years later she went on to create a chain of unique children’s clothing stores, then it was back to her interior design business. In-between, and during, she excelled at entertaining and cooking. Always busy, frequently juggling a ball too many, but always with her eyes on her children and me as her central focus. We often acknowledged, when the times got a bit too crazy, it was love that kept us going, and sane, as a unit! We knew we were heading somehow into our shared future, were unsure of all we were doing, but always relying on The Power of Love. It was our fuel to get us there – or anywhere for that matter.
Second, as soon as I got out of bed today I remembered it was the first anniversary of the ‘Gotcha Day’ for our daughter’s rescue Labrador, Stella.
Stella was abused by a breeder and then cast off. We were appalled by her condition, but after a year of intensive care by four different Veterinarians and a whole lot of love, she has come a long way and is actually thriving now. Definitely cause for celebration so we baked her up a batch of homemade dog treats. Seeing how healthy and loving she is today definately reminded me again of The Power of Love!
Later in afternoon I was enjoying some of my volunteer work for the online patient-to-patient healthcare community, Mayo Connect. I was responding to a community member in our Caregivers discussion group. She was needing a lift from during her struggles with the overwhelming demands of caregiving, her feelings of inadequacy, and wondering how she would be able to find the necessary energy to carry on. For anyone reading this who has been a caregiver, I don’t need to tell you how common those feelings are! Harkening back to my years as my wife’s caregiver I was offering support, a couple tips I’d found helpful, and a suggestion or two. As I was trying to finish my post I could think of just one thing to say: ‘When the caregiving gets the toughest, all we can really do as human beings is lean on what we each know is The Power of Love. It’s the only thing that enabled me to be the caregiver I was to my wife.”
Then, just as I was about to shut off my computer and step outside to socially distance in the woods behind our home, I received an email from a friend of old. Always welcome, I opened it immediately. She was asking me a question about something specific from a time in our lives we shared as shipmates on a study abroad program, Semester at Sea. While I’m still trying to pull the answer to her question from my memory’s Rolodex, I was immediately awash in memories of those days and the first time in my life I truly discovered The Power of Love!
She ended her email with “Are you still writing?”
How did she know?