BESOTTED

1.                         Besotted

As a sailor I knew the word “Besotted” to mean drunk past the point of self control. This besotted was the drunken sailor that had to be carried back aboard the ship and dumped in his rack. Sometimes the same word can mean two very different things and yet be connected.

Some years ago I began reading a series of science fiction books and in more than one of them the author referred to man who was totally besotted with love for a young woman. In looking up the word besotted I discovered that an alternate meaning was indeed “Strongly Infatuated.” A word like this having a second meaning was very interesting and I began to ponder its use. The author was clearly intending the word to mean much more than strongly infatuated and more like love beyond self control.

The idea of being drunk with love was appealing to me for I am besotted in that manner with my darling wife. I become more besotted with each passing year and it is a kind of intoxication for me. When she get home from work each day the whole house become alive with the light of her love and presence and I fall deeper in love with her. Yes I am totally besotted.