Love
Love is when you have their back no matter what. It doesn't matter if they reciprocate, take you for granted, or just find you annoying, because love is selfless and you will always be there for them. It's when you respect and value another person beyond words. It's when you see all their faults, all their flaws, all their failures, and even when those failures hurt you, you still see the heart behind the actions and you love that heart, because you see who they truly are. Love is friendship is when you trust another person. When you see the very center of them and know they not only have the ability but also the capacity to betray you. You know they have the power to break you in so many ways. Every painful thing they do to themselves hurts you as much as it hurts them. Love is the friendship that makes you do anything and everything to make the other person's life a more beautiful place. It's what makes you cross a country to see them in the hospital, or call them on their birthday, or visit them when they're in a nursing home and can't even remember their own name let alone recognize you. Love is the friendship that never fails.
Even when they abandon you, push you away, and want nothing to do with you...you are always there because love is the friendship that is unconditional. Love is when you have the power and courage to say the hard things to them. The things that may hurt, but because you know the caliber of their soul, you know they can not only live through hearing the hard things, but thrive on them. Love is when you let go because you can't make them happy. Love is when you are filled with joy when you see them happy without you. Love is when you pray on your knees for hours, asking, pleading God for their salvation, and if not that, then that they would be happy, protected, safe, and fulfilled.

I don't believe love only comes once or that you can only love one soul. You can love your spouse, your best friend, your mom, your son. You can love anyone, but once you do, it never ends. You never stop loving them, even if the feelings fade. You still get down on your knees and pray hard for them. You still call them on their birthday. And you still will always be there for them, and believe in them no matter what, because love never ends.

If you do stop loving someone...you never loved them in the first place. Love is unconditional. It crosses all boundaries, all time, all space, all hurt, all joy, all pain, all happiness, all life, all death and just is. Love remains.