The Things We Do For Love
On a cold February morning I was driving through the mountains of West Virginia when I found myself in the midst of a sudden, vigorous snow squall. It coated the road ahead in a sheet of white, so I could barely see the lane markers. I was white-knuckling the steering wheel, trying to keep the wheel steady and my foot feather-light on the brakes as I traced the tire tracks of the truck ahead of me, when a bouncy old tune from the mid-70s started banging through my brain.
An earworm. Great. Just when I was holding my breath wondering if I’d be the next vehicle to skid into a ditch:
The weather's turned and all the lines are down
The things we do for love, the things we do for love
~ The Things We Do for Love by 10cc
I crept along, wondering why my mind had squeezed out that particular song (and those particular lyrics), but as the squall finally swept past and I could see the road ahead, I suddenly rasped discovering the reason. I was on my way to my mother’s home in Tennessee, to be there, along with my six siblings, to celebrate her 97th birthday.
The things we do for love. It’s why we were all making the trip, through iffy weather at an inconvenient time, arriving from the south, north, east and west. It’s why we were all ready to sleep on sofas and fold-out beds and inflatable mattresses and queue to use the two bathrooms and squeeze sleepy-eyed past each other in Mom’s small kitchen to brew our morning cuppas.
The things we do for love. It’s why I was going down a day early, to make beds and mop floors and vacuum and grocery shop, so Mom wouldn’t wear herself out trying to get ready for her guests. It’s why I knew I’d have to struggle with Mom to do it, because she’s an independent cuss and doesn’t want us kids (kids – ha! We’re all above the age of fifty) to do her housework.
The things we do for love. It’s why my night-owl husband crawled out of bed at the crack of dawn to see my off on my journey and sent me funny little texts and photos along the way.
The things we do for love. It’s why I was going to make a side trip on my journey through Kentucky to buy him a special bottle of bourbon from his favorite distillery, because HIS birthday was the day after I got back into town from the trip to Mom’s.
The things we do for love. Because love isn’t just a Valentine thing. It’s twenty-four/seven, three hundred and sixty-five days a year (three hundred and sixty-six, in a leap year). It’s even when you’re tired and cranky and the person you love is making you crazy and you wonder how in the world you can still love them and yet you CAN, you DO, because that’s what love is. Not romance and flowers and candy in heart-shaped boxes but the day-in/day-out dirty laundry and screaming kids and farts under the covers and arguments about money and the warts-and-all of it, because those things – all those things – are the what and the how and the why of we do for love.
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StoneKing by Donna Migliaccio
February 20, 2018
Fantasy
The Gemeta Stone Book 3
They call him StoneKing: the lord of four countries, the vanquisher of the Wichelord Daazna, the man who will restore his people to prosperity and peace.
But there is no peace for Kristan Gemeta. Already weighed down by the cares of his new realm, Kristan carries a secret burden – the knowledge that Daazna is not dead. He isolates himself in his ruined castle in Fandrall., where he struggles to control the destructive Tabi’a power that may be his only hope of defeating the Wichelord once and for all.
And there’s trouble elsewhere in his realm. His Reaches are squabbling in Dyer, Melissa and Nigel are experiencing heartache in Norwinn, and Heather’s command in Hogia is in jeopardy. Unware of this turmoil, Kristan receives an unexpected gift – one that forces him, his knights, an inexperienced squire and a crafty young shape-shifter into a hazardous winter journey.
About the Author:
Donna Migliaccio is a professional stage actress with credits that include Broadway, National Tours and prominent regional theatres. She is based in the Washington, DC Metro area, where she co-founded Tony award-winning Signature Theatre and is in demand as an entertainer, teacher and public speaker. Her award-winning short story, "Yaa & The Coffins," was featured in Thinkerbeat's 2015 anthology The Art of Losing.
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