The Meaning of Love
Jacob W. Haller
year-olds, "What does love mean?" The answers they got were broader and
deeper than anyone could have imagined and more than made up for the
jail time they had to do. See what you think:
"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her
toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even
when his hands got arthritis too. Then she gives him a hand-job.
That's love."
Rebecca - age 8
"Love is what makes you smile when you're tired. Wait, no, that's
coffee."
Terri - age 4
"When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. They
don't call you 'jerkface' like all the kids at school do. Oh, how I
long for the sweet kiss of death."
Billy - age 4
"Love is when you go out to eat and give someone most of your French
fries without making them give you any of yours, and they don't report
you to the FBI for not calling them 'freedom fries'."
[NAME AND AGE OF SUBJECT REDACTED FOR NATIONAL SECURITY REASONS]
"Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, and he wears it every
day. Then you tell him you like another guy's shirt, and he beats up
the other guy and takes his shirt and gets sent to juvie. Love is fun!"
Noelle - age 7
And the final one -- Author and lecturer Jeff Vogel once talked about a
contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find
the most caring child.
The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an
elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man
cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard and started
whacking him with a lead pipe. When his Mother asked him what he had
said to the neighbor, the little boy said, "Nothing, I just helped him
cry."
-jwgh
--
"'God damn, this banjo will make a club!'"
-- John Brunner, _No Other Gods But Me_ (1966)