Many years ago, there lived an old couple. They had been married for many years and they were the picture of perfection.

They spent all their waking moments together and everyone in the neighborhood adored them for their amiable and kind nature. That is until, one day, the wife got into a car accident.

She was rushed to the local hospital and the doctors discovered, she had broken her spine, and as a result, was rendering a quadriplegic. To make matters worse, she was left in a state of comatose.

The man was at a total loss. He didn’t know what to do. For the first time in years, he was faced with the thought of being alone. As well, the medical fees were too much for him to pay, even with the help of insurance.

The doctors all advised him to just leave her and forget about her. His friends advised the same plan of action.

He didn’t care. Two weeks after his wife was hospitalized, the man brought her home.

For the next 11 years, he would wake up at the stroke of dawn to bathe his wife, feed her, and dress her.

He continued this for 11 years without fail. Without help. Without any signs of complaint.

Eventually, the woman died of a stroke, having never managed to awake from her coma.

On the day of her funeral, the man’s friends asked, “Why did you even bother? What’s the point? She’s going to die anyways.”

He replied, “Until the moment I breathe my last breath, I will never leave her. I will always be there for her, no matter what. No matter what it takes, I will always be there to protect and guard her. No matter how much suffering and pain I have to undergo for her, I will do whatever it takes for her.”

What is it that possesses a man to do so much for another being?

For 11 years, this man cared for his wife without fail. 11 years. Think about that.

He would do this every day without fail. He never got any gratification or any form of remuneration for this. So, why?

The answer, my friend, is a simple four-letter word.

It’s probably the hardest word in the English language, hell in any language, to define.

Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines love as

(1) : strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties