About the heart

A long time ago, there was a six-year old girl. Her daddy was getting married and she was worried. She worried about what the new woman would be like. She worried about how she could love the new woman. She worried about that new woman coming in and changing things and that they would never be the same. She worried that if she dared to love the new woman, that her mother would be hurt or left behind or some how smaller.

In a rare moment of clarity and insight at that time, the new woman told the six-year old girl a story. It went something like this.

Your heart is like a house. In your heart-house there is a room for everybody you love. And each room is filled with memories and experiences and feelings about one person. So you have a room for your mom. And you have a room for your dad. And you have a room for your Poppa. And you have a room for your Grandma.

When a new person comes along you worry how that person will fit in your heart-house. Because you like each room just the way it is.

Only hearts-houses are different that real houses. In the heart-house, when somebody new comes along you don't have to move everything around and take away from one place to make room for a new thing. In heart-houses you just build a new room. All the old rooms stay the same.

The new room is kind of empty for a while. It takes time to build memories and experiences and to develop feelings. And that is okay. There is plenty of time to furnish the new room. The important thing is to build it and not be afraid of it.

And, as time passes, you will find out that the old rooms are still lovely and full of memories and adding new memories along the way. And the new room begins to fill up too. And soon, or late, that new room feels like it has been in your heart-house forever. And it is comfortable and easy and feels like home.

As we grow, we keep adding rooms to our heart-house. And there is always enough space for the new rooms. Love just gets bigger.