Remember a time when love encapsulated all that was the precious noun that was to be possessed, to have and to hold beyond all circumstances?
The angst, the competition, the guessing work. When a pimple-faced junior high-schooler (read: Yours Truly?!) looked longingly out into the courtyard, daydreaming a magical transformation that only a fairy godmother could bestow. We knew so little about love except that your parents should stay together forever and ever, you never stayed angry at each other for long, you got nervous when they argued for they really (whether they realised it or not) represented as unwilling or unknowing mascots for all that was true, steadfast and ever-lasting.
Then you moved on to the wriggly feeling you got when a secret admirer left a rose in your drawer while you were out in the field practising throwing a ball during physical exercise class. There was the cheesy, huge love-shaped card with cursive writing proclaiming undying "love" and that he would and could follow you to the end of the Earth's boundaries, that he would never marry another should you deny him your lifelong gift of devotion and admiration. (We all knew what happened to that - that we grew up and realised better!)
Today, sifting through a Red Sea of roses, chocolate packets, boxes of high-dollared spending, sparkles and one-knee proposition, love truly represents its most honest face - that love is after all, a verb, more than anything. Love is work, it's the career of your life that you never really get to cash in on your retirement, one that constantly reinvents itself in varying forms, that you never really figure it out but learn to put in the time, effort, and belief, especially during times when all that call for is doubt and fear. Love is growing together and learning to unfold a petal at a time.
Love has many facets but most importantly, love is creating something special together - to some it could be a home, others a child, some a life's commitment to a charity shared, while you can just hold each other's hand and discover what your love's description is and build from there.
Here's to the Valentine's Day for the every day...
for the rest of your life.
for the rest of your life.
