... what she says about love...

Love now-a good, solid love is something infinitely rare and difficult
to maintain, because you don't know everything your partner is feeling.
Love takes work. Love means being able to apologize and mean it when
you blunder. Love is worth fighting for!

One of the very things that made what Van and I have a love-match as
well as a lifebonding was that we were so different. It is like a
marriage - you marry who you think your beloved is, and then discover
who they really are over the years. It's that discovery that makes a
marriage work. We did have things in common, lots of them, but you
would never have assumed that from first seeing us. It made hunting
and finding them all the sweeter. And it gave us chances to introduce
each other to something new. 

Love is as much trust as it is devotion. Oh, there is no such thing as
perfection, or a "perfect" love. I doubt there is even perfection in
the Havens. Wouldn't perfection be a bore?

Build on what you have, children, the foundation is a good one, so now
see what kind of a house you can raise. And don't worry if the windows
aren't the right size, the door is too tall, or there's dust on the
mantelpiece. Just make sure the walls and the ceiling are sound, and
make certain your home holds laughter. The dust will take care of itself.