The Call to Love

By Courtney Pierce

Love is a very special kind of light. The loss of it is the darkest of dark. But “Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.” (Thank you, Lord Tennyson!). The sting can be unbearable, but once we’ve tasted love's gift, a plenty fills us that can never be taken for granted.

Love is such an esoteric concept to explain. It’s both physical and spiritual. Its pheromones travel on air to complete a connection, encompassing us with warmth that speeds the heart. A miracle, really.

My husband reaches out to me in the middle of the night. Even though sound asleep and breathing deep, he still squeezes my hand and pulls my arm tight to his chest. Sometimes he lifts my knuckles to his lips. It’s seemly unconscious, but it wakes me up and blankets me with relaxation. Does he remember doing this? I have no idea, nor would I ever ask. I like the mystery and spontaneous nature of it all.

In turn, I reach out too. Usually when he’s deep under. The feel of his warm skin and silky chest hair reminds me that I’m not alone. Never alone. Energy and touch have a lingering memory that makes us beg for more.

That’s the romance we writers attempt to infuse into our stories. We try to capture the emotion in a million different ways—a crush, tears, élan—but it tends to fall flat. I liken it to a prize monarch escaping the net. Sometimes we get lucky, though, and nail it just right.

Those who strive to do good in the world get our attention. You know, those people who energize a room by simply stepping through the door. Even if we don't know them, they lure us in with a magnetic force. My day is made by simple things, such as a considerate driver who waves me in front them at a four-way stop. In turn, I'm pleased to allow someone to go ahead of me in line at the grocery line when they have only a few items. These seemingly small gestures keep us on the correct path. But it's a big deal in the long term.

Love is much more than a feeling. It’s the emotion that triggers a chemical reaction in our DNA, a memory of the generations who have suffered, recovered, prospered, and passed-on what’s truly important. We can be monetarily poor, but feel rich with love, benevolence, and consideration. While each of us is an individual, unique and important, we’re not whole until we truly connect with others . . . in person. It's not the same without the physical component.  Our increasingly virtual environment dims the lovelight. 

To hold the hand of an elderly person makes us relax. We are suddenly open and feel their wisdom, knowledge, and lessons-learned whoosh through us like lightning. Entwined fingers squeeze a bit tighter to not let go. Nothing more need be said.

While we normally think of love as a mere human trait, there’s an alchemy of other-worldly qualities that connect with our family, friends, pets, neighbors, and our home. We love them all.

Pets hold a very special place in our hearts. Their loyalty and devotion is without question. The warmth. The touch. The devotion. The joy they feel when we arrive home. They jump on the bed at night to be close and protect. They’ll put their lives on the line to save us from a threat.

See a pattern here?

Love is that itch in our throat in the absence of those we’ve lost. Love is the squeeze in our chest when those we love are close. A simple “I love you” on a torn scrap of paper can mean the world. It’s an emotion we should never take for granted. With the touch of those we love, it can heal the skin immediately like a swash of aloe vera gel.

Love is physical, chemical, and spiritual all in one. It’s recoverable after betrayal, trauma, sadness, depression, or surrender. If we're open, it only takes a millisecond to bring it back to center, like shaking out the Etch-A-Sketch. Oh, how that fresh slate looks to change an outlook on life.

Take my Mom (the great Ellen Dushane of my last trilogy series of The Dushane Sisters). She’s now 87 and still independent. While her health wrap-sheet is as long as your arm, she’s an invincible soldier, ready to take on anyone who might violate her Constitutional rights.

"Put up your dukes, Mom!” She loves her country.

As tough as she is, Mom is reduced to tears with her new kitten named “Sally”. She can’t imagine a world without her. The routine of awakening, feeding, talking, and bedding together will fill my Mom’s world with love light. My sister and I secured this tiny Maine Coone kitten for her birthday, and it's the best gift we could have given her. This special kitten will be the newly deemed queen of the house, a title my Mom will be thrilled to hand over. Mom needs to take care of Sally, just like she took care of us. Her hope for the future fills my heart.

And me? My husband and I will wrap our loving arms around each other. When the snow clears, we’ll sow those seeds in our garden, watch them grow to a bountiful harvest, and gaze at the mated pair of bald eagles that circle overhead each evening. 

Then I’ll call Mom to make sure she’s okay.

Courtney Pierce is a fiction writer living in Kalispell, Montana with her husband and stepdaughter. She writes for the baby boomer audience. She spent 28 years as an executive in the entertainment industry and used her time in a theater seat to create stories that are filled with heart, humor, and mystery. She studied craft and storytelling at the Attic Institute and has completed the Hawthorne Fellows Program for writing and publishing. Active in the writing community, Courtney is a board member of the Northwest Independent Writers Association and on the Advisory Council of the Independent Publishing Resource Center. She is a member of Willamette Writers, Pacific Northwest Writers Association, and Authors of the Flathead. The Executrix received the Library Journal Self-E recommendation seal.

Print and E-books are available through most major online retailers, including Amazon.com.

Check out all of Courtney's books: 

courtney-pierce.com and windtreepress.com 

New York Times best-selling author Karen Karbo says, "Courtney Pierce spins a madcap tale of family grudges, sisterly love, unexpected romance, mysterious mobsters and dog love. Reading Indigo Lake is like drinking champagne with a chaser of Mountain Dew. Pure Delight."

Coming in 2021!

When Aubrey Cenderon moves to Montana after the death of her father, the peace and quiet of Big Sky Country becomes complicated with a knock on the door from the sheriff. An injured grizzly bear is on the loose and it must be eliminated before it kills again. The sheriff's insistence that she buy a gun for protection will present Aubrey with some serious soul-searching, because the grizzly-on-the-run is hunting her too . . . for a different reason.

The Science of Love

 By Robin Weaver

Perhaps because it’s close to Valentine’s Day, there seems to be an abundance of ads for online dating companies. One of those services claims to match couples on umpteen categories of compatibility. While I think dating sites can provide a way to meet new people (with proper safety precautions), I’m compelled to ask: Can people really find love via a questionnaire?

To my knowledge, no happy couple ever said: “We had the same answer on 72 questions and have been inseparable ever since.” No, what the lovestruck typically says is: "I just knew." (*The amount of time required for the knowledge varies from person-to-person.) Obviously, I’m talking eros—or romantic love, not the love of friends, children, or world peace. Specifically, I mean the magical, practically undefinable, make-you-crazy miracle that occurs when the chemistry is right between two people. 

So how, exactly, how do we “just know?”

According to some scientists, a little thingy called a pheromone might be tweaking the old heartstrings. Even scientists aren’t clear what role these little critters play in finding love, or probably more accurately—in sexual attraction. Pheromones, if the research is correct, act like little Cupids. The precise definition of the pheromone has been debated since pheromones were first identified in 1959, but supposedly, we secret a substance that can be detected by another creature of the same species. I don’t know about you, but nothing about secretions sounds sexy.  Still, that secretion theoretically can cause sexual arousal in the recipient. 

Can love (aka mating) be as simple as picking up on the chemical cues? Possibly. Humans and other animals can distinguish thousands of odors with our noses. So why not love smells?

For over 50 years, scientists have known insects and animals can release chemicals detectible by other creatures.  For sea urchins, the relationship between pheromones and mating is undeniable. These ocean nymphs release pheromones into the water that triggers other urchins to eject their sex cells simultaneously--I wouldn't want to swim in that water!

The female silk moth releases a trail of bombykol which never fails to attract her man (or men).   A molecule in male mouse urine accelerates puberty in young Minnies.  (And we thought pubescent pimples and training bras were bad.)

According to some studies, human pheromones are “highly individualized, and not always noticeable.”  Well, duh.  If the aren’t noticeable…never mind. More important, if pheromones do play a role in love (aka attraction), do our individual signals seek out specific mates, or do we just attract the first available recipient. Ay-yi-yi. I’m so confused.  And I’m not alone.  Research has made little progress in defining exactly how—or even if—these mysterious pheromones affect us humans.

Scientists have had some success in demonstrating exposure to body odor gets responses in humans. They suspect that armpit is sending all kinds of signals from casual flirtation to panic alerts. Pheromones might be present in all bodily secretions and most studies are specifically geared toward sweat.  In 1986, Dr. Winifred Cutler, co-discovered pheromones in our underarms. Her team found that once any overbearing underarm sweat was removed, odorless materials containing pheromones remained.* Assuming our pits do contain love signals, does deodorant block more that stink?

(*The validity of this study is now in question. Praise Cupid.)

·       First—ewww!

·       Second, if you have a cold, does that mean you shouldn’t bother?

·       Third, if pheromones are emitted via your pits and sweat is an aphrodisiac, singles should forgot bars and dating services and go directly to the gyn—eh, I mean gym.

If love truly in our sense of smell, that might explain why Eskimos rub noses.**

(**Previous statement is probably politically incorrect, no matter how adorable.)

I don’t know about you, but this science geek has had enough pheromone talk.  I’d rather believe love is finding your split-apart.  For those of you who haven’t seen The Butcher’s Wife (which, BTW, is an excellent Valentine Day movie), the idea is souls were “split apart” at the beginning of time and the two halves search for one another to regain a sense of wholeness.  Kinda fits with the Big Bang, huh?

As the day of lovers approaches, I’d like to send a special valentine nose-rub to my Eskimo, T.  And a very happy V-Day to all of you!  May the pheromones be with you--assuming they can get past your mask.