What Growing Up Taught Me About Love

Contrary to what I believed when I was younger, love isn’t just happiness. It isn’t just red roses, dates on Saturday nights, kiss in the rain, a stroll on a beach, fancy dresses, and a little red box that held expensive things. It isn’t like the movies you’ve watched or the books you’ve read. It isn’t magic, really.

Love is a kiss in the morning despite the morning breath; it’s dancing on the street and singing at the top of your lungs when you hear your favorite song. It’s an hour of video call at night when you’ve removed all your makeup and in your most comfortable clothes. It’s talking about life and silly things until the wee hours of the night. Love isn’t always knowing what to say, it’s being comfortable in the silence. It’s not going on fancy dates; it’s a pizza delivery while watching Friends. It’s not always football or basketball; sometimes it’s also that chick flick from the 2000s. it’s fighting but making up at the end of the night. Love isn’t always gonna be a blockbuster movie, sometimes it’s the half-assed film with dumb characters but we watch it anyway.

You see, growing up, we’re used to being told that love will just come to us in the most magical way possible, but it’s not. It’s far from that. Love will take you by surprise but it’s not in a way that you’ll just see a shirtless hot guy in your kitchen making pomegranate. Love won’t always sweep you off your feet, but it will always pull you up when you’ve fallen. Love isn’t having your heart skip a beat. It’s not always having butterflies in your stomach.

True love makes your heart beat crazy slow that you don’t think you’ll be able to breathe anymore. It’s holding his hand and being amazed every day that this person is real, that such a human being can bring you the biggest amount of happiness.

Love isn’t needy, it’s thankful.