Now, in the summer of life, sweetheart

You say you love but me

Gladly I give all my heart to you

Throbbing with ecstasy

But last night I saw, while a-dreaming

The future old and gray,

And I wondered if you’ll love me then, dear

Just as you do today?

Will you love me in December as you do in May?

Will you love me in the good old-fashioned way?

When my hair has all turned gray,

Will you kiss me then and say,

That you love me in December as you do in May?

You say the glow on my cheek, sweetheart

Is like the rose so sweet

But when the bloom of fair youth has flown

Then will our lips still meet?

When life’s setting sun fades away, dear,

And all is said and done,

Will your arms still entwine and caress me?

Will our hearts beat as one?

Will you love me in December as you do in May?

Will you love me in the good old-fashioned way?

When my hair has all turned gray,

Will you kiss me then and say,

That you love me in December as you do in May?

by former mayor of New York, James J Walker, in 1907

Are you in love or in lust? When it first happens, it’s easy to confuse the two. With both, you feel that you need the person you’re in love or in lust with, that your life would be complete with that other person. When the feeling is reciprocated, you stand taller, prouder, head held higher, smiling so all the world can see the joy in your heart.

When you’re first starting, the two, lust and love, are interchangeable. They both make you feel alive and give you that warm feeling deep inside. It doesn’t even have to be a physical attraction. You can fall in love or in lust with what the other person represents: success, power, intelligence, confidence, kindness, gentleness, ruthlessness and so on.

With lust, it is more likely to happen much quicker, like love at first sight. When you’re with the other person, you feel the attraction, the deep longing to be with that person, the quickening of your heart, the sweaty palms, the light headiness. When you’re apart, you start to fantasize about that person. You create a whole new world and new events between the two of you. You create your own vision of that person, one that makes the other person greater than they really are.

You’ll get the same feelings with love, but it usually takes longer. As you get to know the person over time, you start learning new things about them, noticing things you didn’t see before. Over time, you begin looking at that person differently. You begin thinking about that person more and more each day as time goes on. Rather than fantasize about imaginary encounters between you two, you visualize things the other person did which caught your attention. You remember things the other person said or did which made them unique.

When you’re in love, you get the same deep longings, light headiness, quickening of the heart, but these occur when you’re away from the other person. When you’re together, you feel as though you can walk on water, you’re head is in the clouds. You begin to see the other person as who they really are, which only increases the attraction.

This is love or lust in May.

Over time, with lust, these feelings begin to fade away. You no longer get these feelings in August. Most never make it together till December, having gone their separate ways long before. Those who do last, no longer look at each other the same way, choosing to stay together out of necessity. With lust, others with the same qualities which attracted you earlier, begin to attract you. Your eyes and heart begin to wonder, looking for someone with the same qualities which you lust for. You will stay with the same person only as long as they have the qualities which attracted you; beauty, power, success, confidence and so on. When these start to disappear, or someone comes along with more of these qualities, the distancing begins.

With love, these feelings never fade away. They may weaken now and then, but come back just as strong as before. With love, the qualities which attracted you to the other person get more refined. They way the other person speaks, the things they say, the way they look at you with that glint in their eyes. These things grow stronger over time.

When December rolls around, the couple that fell in love can still be seem holding hands, almost every time they’re together. They can still be seen flirting with each other, to the point that it makes others jealous. They can complete each others sentences, or sit together for hours at a time without saying a single word. Most importantly of all, they would each make sacrifices to ensure the others happiness. Each would gladly give up something dear to their heart to make the other happy, in May and in December.

When both are in love, nothing can break that bond, not in May and especially not in December.

These words are lyrics from a song originally recorded by the Elysian Singers in 1907. Itunes seems to have the most variations of this song.

http://ax.search.itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZSearch.woa/wa/search?entity=song&media=all&page=1&restrict=false&startIndex=0&term=will+you+love+me+in+december

The one I liked best is by Bob Hope:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/will-you-love-me-in-december/id542308716?i=542308843