Perhaps novelist Haruki Murakami has found the key. And this makes sense. The child who is with his or her mother day and night for months and months would eventually have to identify emotionally with that mother. It is entirely possible that, as humans, we may empathize more than we love, truly understanding what others are going through in this life, the unbearable weightiness of mere existence. If this is true, then love need not prevail in evolution or religion or nonexistence.
Perfect understanding is, well, more understandable and intuitively grasped than the idea of love.
So love need not exist at all. Still, I want to hear my son say it, whether or not he can define it or clarify its origins. They haven't found a gene for love or even begun looking for one as far as I can tell, but part of me hopes that they will. This is the only thing that gives me solace on those long, fussy days, when I question the why and what of this new journey I have undertaken. Researchers say it's possible, but lawmakers must pave the way.