People have different thoughts about what love really means

Recently my significant other, Jonathan Borawski, said he loved me. He then asked me how I felt. I don't know whether it is the reporter in me or whether it is the way my parents brought me up - to mean what I say and say what I mean - but I found myself needing to ponder the way I felt, in hopes of giving a correct response.

It was not because I didn't feel some of the same feelings, but because I wanted to make sure that my definition of what love is was equal to his.

I asked him how he knew he loved me. His response was, "Because you are just different, and when you feel something this strong you just know it."

Some might have been happy with that answer and would quickly have said, "Yeah, me, too," but not me. I wonder whether that is the "different" he is referring to.

I decided to ask others what they thought signified love. One source said he knew he was in love when he saw the way his girlfriend filled out her jeans. Now, be honest ... is that the real definition of love? Girls my age and younger are losing their innocence and becoming, in some cases, mothers before they are even teenagers because of this kind of love.

One day I was watching my mom getting the house ready for my dad to come home and I decided to ask her.

"Mom, you and daddy have been married for 20 years. Will you define love for me?"

She gave me the deepest wisdom using the least words.

She replied, "Love is there when 'like' isn't."

That was it; no further explanation was given or needed.

I have seen people make the declaration of love as common as a daily greeting; not really meaning what they are saying but just saying it because it seems to be the correct thing to do at the moment. There are so many interpretations of love for so many people, but I have come to see that love should be timeless.

It shouldn't have a happy ending because it should never end. Love should be more than skin deep; it should reach one's soul. Love at this depth is not broken if one gains a few pounds or loses a few hairs. It's this kind of love that calls wrinkles "beautiful lines of character," and as they deepen so does this kind of love.

It doesn't disappear, it provides. It provides a shoulder to lean on when everyone else has given you their back. It provides a captivated audience even when your news might have been lame by someone else's standards. It's this kind of love that somehow can always find a solution to problems instead of finding a way out to avoid the situation.

Love is like an ocean - deep. Even though there are waves on the surface, there also are currents underneath. It's just deep like that.

In all my research and observation, this is my outline, this is the kind of love I mean to have someday because love this deep takes time.

Now back to answering the question that began this journey for me: Do I love this person just the same? After everything, I would have to say my answer is, "Yeah, me, too!"

Talea Santiago, 16, is a junior at Cross Creek High School.