It was a few days after I told the soldier about his Lifesavers.

“I have another question for you,” I said. “I want to know what you think of something.”

“Shoot.”

“Okay, well I told you about those lifesavers and your big thoughts and all that. I explained what I got out of those few minutes, but really you could boil it down to any one instant in that frame. Right there in one moment everything is captured. Like the head of a pin or an orgasm. Do you know what I mean?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, so I liked that. It was potent. And I drove 1700 miles that weekend, right?”

“Yeah, you did. That was something else.”

“Well here’s the thing: It was worth it to me. It was worth driving like that with my daughter in car just to have that single moment. It was less than a moment. It was a nanosecond or whatever but the experience was priceless, see?”

“Uh huh.”

“Yeah, so how is that? How can it be that I can drive 1700 miles for split second and be happy about it? And not only that, I would do it again. And you know I would. The whole world knows I would. I could turn around in a day or in an hour even and drive another 1700 miles for another minute like that if it were available, there is no question about it. If it was there I would go get it for sure. So what do you figure that is? Just what is it?”

He did not hesitate long enough to blink. “Well, that’s love, P. It is love beyond all love. That’s what you and I have, that’s what I think. We had it when we were kids, and we still have it. Love like that doesn’t go away. It’s all the same love, it never went anywhere.”

“Love, huh? Is that what you think?”

“Well, yeah that’s what I think. What else could it be? I don’t know any other name for what you describe besides love. Love beyond love that is. I just don’t know what else that could be called.”

“Hmm.”

“You think it could be something else?”

“I have no idea. I just know this is the real fact of how things are. It’s the situation and I don’t know its name that’s why I’m asking. It is beyond my ability to comprehend on my own. Someone else has to define it. I’m just living and doing what comes natural per my usual thing I do.”