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 Everyday should be
Valentine's Day. Cherish your loved
ones everyday. Love is a powerful force. The "Treasury of
Encyclopedia Britannica" describes "Love in Medicine" like this:
The symptoms produced by this passion as a disease,
according to medical writers as follows: The eye-lids often twinkle,
the eyes are hollow, and yet appear as if full with pleasure: the
pulse is not peculiar to the passion ... As the force of love
prevails, sighs grow deeper; a tremor affects the heart and the
pulse; ... a loss of appetite, a hectic fever, melancholy, or
perhaps madness, if not death, constitutes the sad
catastrophe.
We all know the Biblical version of what love is:
"Love is gentle. Love is kind ... " but what do the other writers
say about this state of utter madness?
 William Shakespeare, of course, provides one of the
most memorable versions of the definition in "Romeo and Juliet" :
"Love is a smoke made with the fume of sighs, Being purged, a fire
sparkling in lovers' eyes, Being vexed, a sea nourished with lovers'
tears. What is it else? A madness most discreet, A choking gall and
a preserving sweet."
While Shakespeare may be one of the greatest writers
about love in history, other men, women, and children have put their
slant on this famous malady (love).
Show your love. A group
of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to
8-year-olds, "What does love mean?" The answers
they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have
imagined.
"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend
over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for
herall the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's
love."
Rebecca - age 8
"When someone loves you, the
way they say your name is different. You know that your name is safe
in their mouth."
Billy - age 4
"Love is when a girl
puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out
and smell each other."
Karl - age 5
"Love is when
you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries
without making them give you any of theirs."
Chrissy - age
6
"Love is what makes you smile when you're
tired."
Terri - age 4
"Love is when my mommy makes
coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to
make sure the taste is OK."
Danny - age 7
"Love is
what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening
presents
and listen."
Bobby - age 5
"If you
want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend whom
you hate."
Nikka - age 6
"There are two kinds of
love. Our love. God's love. But God makes both kinds of
them."
Jenny - age 4
"Love is when you tell a guy
you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday."
Noelle - age
7
"Love is like a little old woman and a little old man
who are still friends even after they know each other so
well."
Tommy - age 6
"My mommy loves me more than
anybody. You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at
night."
Clare - Age 5
"Love is when mommy gives
daddy the best piece of chicken."
Elaine - age
5
"Love is when mommy sees daddy smelly and sweaty and
still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford."
Chris - age
8
"Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you
left him alone all day."
Mary Ann - age 4
"I know
my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes
and has to go out and buy new ones."
Lauren - age
4
"I let my big sister pick on me because my Mom says she
only picks on me because she loves me. So I pick on my baby sister
because I love her."
Bethany - age 4
"When you love
somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come
out of you."
Karen - age 7
"Love is when mommy
sees daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's
gross."
Mark - age 6
"You really shouldn't say 'I
love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it
a lot. People forget."
Jessica - age 8
A Story of Love
The story goes that some time ago a mother punished
her 5 year old daughter for wasting a roll of expensive gold
wrapping paper. Money was tight and she became
even more upset
when the child used the gold paper to decorate a box to put under
the Christmas tree.
Nevertheless, the little girl brought the gift box to
her mother the next morning and said, "This is for you,
Momma."
The mother was embarrassed by her earlier over
reaction, but her anger flared again when she opened the box and
found it was empty.
She spoke to her daughter in a harsh manner. "Don't
you know, young lady, when you give someone a present there's
supposed to be something inside the package?"
She had tears in her eyes and said, "Oh, Momma, it's
not empty! I blew kisses into it until it was full."
The mother was crushed. She fell on her knees and put
her arms around her little girl, and she begged her forgiveness for
her thoughtless anger.
An accident took the life of the child only a short
time later, and it is told that the mother kept that gold box by her
bed for all the years of her life. Whenever she was
discouraged
or faced difficult problems she would open the box and take out an
imaginary kiss and remember the love of the child who had put it
there.
In a very real sense, each of us, as human beings,
have been given a Golden box filled with unconditional love and
kisses from our children, family, friends and God. There is no more
precious possessions anyone could hold.
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What is
Love?