Pragma and Storg; the longstanding love of family

For most people, the Valentine's Day holiday translates into cards with Hallmark messages, chocolates in heart-shaped boxes, red roses and teddy bears.
But the holiday of love is so much more, just as love itself is so much more than just a word.
Love is one of those things that are hard to explain in the English language – there's a part of me that prefers the Greek versions of the word over our own.
There is Eros, the romantic, red-hot and passionate love; Philia, the love that is found in deep, meaningful friendships; Ludus, a playful love of flirting; Storge, the unconditional love of families; Philautia, a self-love that everyone both needs some of and a little less of; Pragma, a committed, longstanding love that is vital for deep connection; and Agape, an empathetic, universal love.
Recently, I had the incredible privilege to watch Pragma and Storg be fulfilled magnificently.
A local family (whose full story will be told in next week's Monticello News – so be looking for it!) have one of the most beautiful stories of parenthood, adoption, love and godliness.
This family has gone through years of having no birth-children to call their own, have felt the pain of trying to adopt, of having potential children come and go, and finally turned their goal towards mentoring and 'parenting' children that they called their “spiritual children.”
Like Agape, this beautiful family loved and loved and loved – they poured out endless love without any request for it to be returned.
While they had no children “of their own,” they made sure that every child they came into contact with felt as though they were a part of God's large, blessed, shared family.
Then, last year, a new love came into their life.
Adoption is rarely easy – it's full of heartbreak as well as happiness, and sometimes it's a journey that never gets finished.
But on one October night last year, this family received a call – they were asked to give a home to a baby boy who needed someone to love him – to give him the Storge love that he needed at that moment.
Love, as it turns out, often finds us when our minds are distracted.
All of a sudden, this beautiful couple had a new story to tell and a new love to give.
All of a sudden, their house became a home to three.
Even though this little boy had come home with them and started calling them “mom” and “dad,” their story was not finished.
It was on Wednesday, Feb. 12 that the story was finally completed.
Like a picturesque ending to a love-filled fairy tale, the family went to the Tallahassee Courthouse on a warm, foggy morning. This little boy, so beloved and accepted, was finally given a last name to share with his parents, was given a family and given a community.
When we think about the committed, longstanding love, usually the first depiction we think of is an old married couple who have shared happy years of life.
But there is another kind of committed love, a love that is deep and connects us: the love of a parent for their child.
While Storge is familial love, a love that often remains unshaken, there is something equally familial about Pragma.
I was invited to attend and photograph the family's adoption of the little boy who had already become their son (maybe not legally, but they didn't need a piece of paper to say he was theirs). During that intimate ceremony, I was emotionally moved by the firm commitment that is made when a person becomes a parent.
Maybe being a parent isn't part of “the plan,” but when a person decides to raise their child, to improve the person they once were to be a mommy or daddy, there is a form of love that fits perfectly into the committed love of Pragma.
I watched those the couple who, only a few months ago, were a family of two, swear to always care for, love and support the little boy who grew their family to a group of three.
The moment of the adoption will forever be marked upon my mind.
There was something almost holy about that moment when a simple decision made a family complete; much like the one simple decision that joins us into a Heavenly Family.
How much more special was it, I thought as I left the courthouse, that this beautiful love story was fulfilled on Valentine's Week?
Love has many forms, as we all well know.
Eros, Philia, Ludus, Storge, Philautia, Pragma, and Agape are all equally important.
This Valentine's Day, let us remember them all as we celebrate the love that draws our hearts together.