What does it mean to love?

By Layton Lolo 18 July 2016, 12:00AM

Loved ones flash through my mind

Memories and highlights are what I see

I wonder if they know

How much they mean to me?

 

I try to keep track of them all

But I keep losing count

I try to fit them in the small space of my life

But they keep falling out

 

I try to show my affection

But I feel all thumbs

I try showing my love through words

But I feel like I’m struck dumb

 

I pick up an instrument

And play a song for them all

I put my heart and soul into the melody

Feeling the rhythm rise and fall

 

But I can’t let the music stop

Can’t let this feeling end

Cause if I do, it’ll all be over

I’ll never get the chance again

 

The instrument drops

And the scene moves on

To a place of peace

But one where they’re all gone

 

I try to do something to keep them from leaving

To do something to guide them back

So I show my love through actions

To make up for all that I lack

 

I write their names

On the face of a page

But the ink starts to smear

Then slowly begins to fade

 

So I carve their names

On the trunk of a tree

But the tree catches fire

And their names in ashes are suddenly freed

 

Then I decide to write their names

On the palm of my hand

But the words start to move

And eventually stand

 

They jump from my palm

Run away and are gone

But I don’t stop there, I don’t give up

I simply move on

 

I chose a star for each person

And name them as they appear

But then the sun comes up

And then the stars disappear

 

So I paint them in a picture

And name each one I paint

But the paint soon weakens

Until it is no more, too far gone, too faint

 

So I write them in my mind

Where I know I can keep them

But I quickly lose each one

My train of thought gradually ends

 

Right then, a thought replaces the lost ones

And I figure out a way

I choose to write their names on my heart

And that’s where they stay

 

In my heart are the ones I love

Because they are my life

I keep them there so I know their safe

I keep them there so they’ll never die

Do we all find ourselves at some point in life where we think about the ones we love?  Where we think of our family?  Friends? Best friends?  Friends that you hope one day will be something more?  Or perhaps we think about how we got so lucky?  How we got the people that love us, in our lives?  How can there be so many people who love us?  Or maybe we think about our loved ones and think of how much we don’t deserve them?  Deserve to have them in our lives?  To be loved by them?  I admit I have pondered these many questions once or twice in my life.

What does it mean to love? To love someone and they love you back?  That is one question that I never seem to find the right answer to.  I can think of a million answers that make sense yet all of them are missing something or only describe a small portion of the true answer. 

Here are just a few of the best answers: Loving someone can mean, putting the other persons’ needs come before your own, loving them now matter how many mistakes they make or opportunities they have missed, helping them in need when it truly matters, being the peacemaker of every fight, argument and dispute, to never leave them when they need a shoulder to cry on, and to do things out of love for them simply because you can.

If I’ve learned anything in life it’s that we are defined and shaped by the people we allow into our company; so chose to have those who see the best in you and love you, around you.

Love can be shown in a million different ways, but the best way to do so is to follow your heart.

So understand what it means love, find your own definitions and answers, and maybe along the way to finding your answer, you’ll find new names to put into your heart.

By Layton Lolo 18 July 2016, 12:00AM
Samoa Observer

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