雪人の宅

Extracted from a fren's blog:

There is passionate love. As its name implies, it is full of passion and normally exists at the start of a relationship. Unfortunately, it is short-lived and fizzles out before long. However, it does not mean that old couples no longer experience passionate love. One characteristic of passionate love is that it can be rekindled. In the course of a long relationship, there will be periods of passionate love interspersed with the other type of love. True love is not only about passion. After all, it is only too easy to get carried away by our raging emotions only to discover the person ain't really who we imagined them to be.
On the other hand, we have companionate love which is enduring love. It does not have the frequent highs and lows of passionate love. Some might find it dull but it is consistent. This kind of love normally takes over from passionate love after the couple has been together for quite a while. Perhaps it can be said that it is a combination of friendship love and romantic love, where the couple becomes friends as well as lovers. Or rather, companions since companionate derives from that. The couple has already learnt how to share life and make the journey together. It is easy for you to like someone if you don't have to see them day in day out. You do not see their faults and weaknesses. You do not know their habits or how disgusting they can be. You have not seen them in action, how they handle stuff or make decisions. You have not seen them at their worst or at their best. You have not seen them perform under pressure or deal with life and death. After knowing your partner in depth, do you still love the fella? Can you accept them as they are? Warts and all? That is where companionate love comes in.

The comment mentioned that the gay couple's love was fading. My take on that is very simple. I do not want to be seen as taking sides, only my personal belief. All relationships have a honeymoon period. How long it lasts varies from individual to individual. During this honeymoon period, it can be argued that love makes one blind. Passionate love covers all the blemishes of the other party and everything is rose-tinted. Arguments happen but are quickly glossed over during this period. However, this period does not last and it cannot last. If it doesn't end, the relationship will never be able to grow into maturity. After the honeymoon period, cracks start to appear. Things you initially found charming, cute or endearing certainly becomes irritating. Your fuse becomes shorter and arguments are more the norm than the exception. Moreover, arguments increase in intensity and duration as time passes. This is a test that all couples must go through. Can your love stand the test of time? More importantly, can it stand the test of time and yet continue burning strong. Some couples have been together nearly forever but they seem to stay together exactly because they have always been together. Love is no longer a factor in their relationship. Other couples, if you look around you at some of the senior citizens still do simple things like holding hands after half a century together.

How true!!!