Last night as we were lying in bed, my husband turned to me and said, “What do you think is the most important thing in the whole world?”

Without hesitating, I answered, “Love.”

“What kind of love?” he asked.

“Every kind.”

I believe that the only required life experience is love. Love is the root of happiness, joy, fulfillment, and peace. I think that we were given the gift of life on earth in order to experience and learn and grow. With that growth comes a stronger sense of who you are and what your place is in the world. The better you know yourself, the easier it is to give and receive love. When you give someone real, true, honest love you are adding a chapter to the manuscript of their life. There isn’t a better gift to give someone who is important to you than the gift of your love. Everyone wants it. We’re all looking for it in our own way. We read about it, we sing songs about it. Even the media portrays cryptic advertisements that are meant to trick you into thinking you can find love through food or cars or meaningless sex. The thing about real love, the kind that changes you, is that you can’t find it anywhere but the outstretched hand of the person who wants you to have it.

Think back on who you have loved, who has loved you. For me, my life is broken up into segments defined by love. The unconditional love I felt from my grandmother, the chaotic and intense love for my little sister, the passionate love my husband and I feel for each other. I picture my life like a color wheel, each love assigned its own unique color and everything coming together to create a rainbow of something beautiful. Even the painful loves, like that stupid boy in high school who left me without looking back and the friends who have had to move on and away, I wouldn’t trade those experiences of love for anything in the world. Each time I have offered and received love it has given my life more texture, more depth and meaning.

My hope is that when I am closing my eyes for the last time, I will have story so rich and colored with every kind of love that I can die knowing my life meant something important to this world. Something that could never be replicated or analyzed or filed away behind the casserole recipes in your mind. I want you to remember me in your heart.