Response to Michelle Webb

What would be a beautiful emotion?
I think an immediate response to this question would be love. I feel that the word emotion, though, has a connotation that it is something that must be elicited - it is the product of an event or relaying of information. I have constant love for my family, but have irregular emotions in regard to them. Sometimes, I may be mad, other times I may feel content or neutral, and other times I may be fully aware of the love I have for them - and in my opinion, I feel you are most fully aware of your love for someone when their safety is at risk (coincides with the idea that 'you don't know what you have until it's gone'). My mother had been diagnosed with cancer a year ago, which is most certainly one of the ugliest and hardest things a human being (or animal for that matter) may have to go through - however, it brought my family even closer together. When you're on the cusp of losing someone, it forces you to evaluate the possible consequences of losing that person. Most often, you'll find that these consequences are more than devastating and would most anybody to fully value that person's current state of existence. So when my mother was put into remission, I experienced the greatest sense of euphoria. I can imagine no greater sense of relief. Of course, their are many other modes through which we may encounter a beautiful emotion - this is just for me, the most beautiful I have personally felt.

Question: Why is it that we don't know what we have until it's gone?