http://www.maryvilledailyforum.com/features/x1348973126/Let-Me-Tell-You-Somethin-Living-on-loveLet Me Tell You Somethin': Living on love
By Megan Tilk
Maryville Daily Forum
Posted Nov 08, 2010 @ 08:03 AM
Maryville, Mo.
You all know how much I enjoy listening to music as I commute to and from work. Every day I'll begin my journey with songs from the 50s or 60s, but generally end up with some good old country tunes.
Speaking of country music, I don't know whether or not I've mentioned the crush I have on the popular country singer, Alan Jackson. I guess you wouldn't really call it a crush. After all, I'm not a silly school girl anymore. But he sure is cute and, of course, he can sing like a dream. Who doesn't have a crush on him right?
One of my favorite songs my friend Alan recorded is Living on Love. I think the reason I like it so well is that I can relate to it so well. Know what I mean? But then, I think that's the reason many songs catch our attention.
It starts out talking about two young people without a thing, saying vows and spreading their wings. They don't care about what's in style she just likes the way he smiles yadda, yadda, yadda.
Those of you who have been married a while and those who are in the early stages of love can surely relate to this type of thing. Everything is great especially when a relationship is new. You're so much in love, nothing can bring you down. Nothing can cause you to worry about the future. Things are going to be just fine forever.
Until your first wake-up call, that is.
I definitely remember those days the wake-up call days...
Not much in the cupboards. Dinner consisted of very little meat, a lot of potatoes or beans and Kool-aid if we were lucky.
You didn't bother to notice the due date on the utility bills because you knew you weren't going to be able to pay them until that next check came in.
Kids were in every corner of every room some wanting to eat, some wanting a story, some just wanting they didn't really know what they wanted. (And another one's on the way as one of Loretta Lynn's songs says.)
But you didn't get discouraged. You just put those little kids all to bed, sit down together in the living room, hold hands and enjoy some nice, quiet time together before one of them wakes up and you have to do it all over again.
The last verse of the song talks about two OLD people without a thing children gone but they still sing side-by-side n that front porch swing living on love.
Yep, after 40 years of marriage I can relate even better to that verse these days. That front porch swing has had a lot of sitting in the past few years. There are nights when nobody is there but old Roger and myself and you know what that's O.K. sometimes.
The chorus to the song says something like "living on love, buying on time, without somebody nothing ain't worth a dime."
Ain't it the truth?
I believe there's a lesson here that has had to be learned the hard way by a lot of people. It seems like every couple I know has gone through a time when they thought they needed to accumulate as many "things" as possible in a short amount of time. They think those things will make them happy.
Oh how silly we all have been!
After 40 years of accumulating things, I have come to understand that things just aren't where it's at not at all.
Now don't get me wrong I like things. Things are nice. But I know things don't make me happy. If I were to have all kinds of things and didn't have my family, I wouldn't be very happy at all. I'm sure that's the case with everyone.
But there are times when those things of mine just kind of get in the way. Like when I make a pie. It's really hard to find enough space on my counter to sprinkle a little flour and roll out the crust with all those cute little things sitting around.
And when I decide to work on my quilts or scrapbooks, there are just an awful lot of things in the way that prevent me from being able to achieve my goal.
Now, if you believe the two above statements, I have a piece of property with an oceanside view in rural Burlington Junction that you just might be interested in!
So, life really can be good when you're living on love. Or living with love maybe that's the way it should go.
Connie Goff is a reporter and weekly columnist for the Maryville Daily Forum.
