Two by Two

by Nicholas Sparks

Get married. Love your wife and treat her with respect. Have children, and teach them the value of hard work. Do your job. Don’t complain. Remember that family—unlike most of those people you might meet in life—will always be around. Fix what can be fixed or get rid of it. Be a good neighbor. Love your grandchildren. Do the right thing.

Just remember that I’ve made it through one hundred percent of the worst days of my life so far. Just like your dad, and Marge. And, of course, you have, too. And how we get through them is one day at a time.”

Hope might leave me crushed in the end, but losing all hope somehow seemed even worse.

I felt as though I’d come home. This, I remember thinking, is what life is really about. Love and laughter and friendship; happy times spent with those you care about.

it eventually dawned on me that acceptance is the heart of true love, not judgment. To be fully accepted by another, even in your weakest moment, is to finally feel at rest.