What is love? Google defines love as (noun) an intense feeling of deep affection, a person or thing that one loves, a score of zero (in some sports) or (verb) to feel a deep romantic attachment to someone or something. But really, what  is love? Do we really need Google to tell us whether we’re in love or whether that person loves us back?? Is there a difference between what married, dating, and single people define love as? Does your definition of love change when you’re in a committed relationship? Why can’t we just make up our own definition? Let’s take a look.

Business teacher Mrs. Olson met her husband when she was teaching in Red Cloud, Nebraska. Since she was new to the community, she needed somewhere to stay, so she decided to rent an apartment temporarily. Her future husband started out as her landlord. Three months later, she moved into a house and he would come over and mow her lawn. She would provide him with drinks while he mowed, and that was just the beginning of their love story. She enjoyed his company and for her, only four months, she found herself falling in love.

“I liked him, then that grew into respect, then that grew into love,” said Olson.

They got engaged nine months after they started dating. After ten years of marriage, Olson gained a lot of knowledge of love.

“Love isn’t about the physical attractions of a person, it’s how you’re treated and their behaviors to you,” said Olson. “When you’re young you’re more attracted to the physical characteristics but when you’re married it’s about the little things, making the bed when the other’s stressed. Love is patient and kind, it is treating spouse the way you want to be treated. Love is a combination of things. It is in your heart and in your head, in behaviors. When you truly love someone, you respect and appreciate them and want nothing but the best for them. You’re always supportive of them.”

French teacher, Madame Dimon, was a waitress at a restaurant where she laid eyes on the salad prep guy. She introduced herself over a bowl of romaine lettuce. Shortly after, their shared interests in becoming teachers led them into their own little fairytale. It only took Dimon three short months to realize that she was in love with the salad prep guy.

After being married for 23 great years, Dimon knows she has love figured out. “Love is when you’re willing to put the needs and wishes of another person way above your own and love is a rock you can stand on, a support system, a solid support system with unquestionable loyalty,” said Dimon. She also said that being married has changed her perception of love because she now knows, “What it’s like to build something together for the future, such as kids.”

With a combined total of 33 years of marriage, Dimon and Olson both think they have a pretty strong grasp on love. But what about those couples who are just beginning their own journey of love? Here at Southeast, you’ve probably seen many couples together around school, and while they may not have necessarily learned the meaning of love yet, they are getting there.

Vinh Le (12) has been dating his girlfriend, Reyanna Moore (11), for over nine months now. They first met in French class when she was a freshman and he was a sophomore. They both liked each other, but were nervous to admit it. One day, Le was talking to one of Moore’s friends and mentioned that he liked her and thought that she was cute, and that was when the spark of a new relationship.

“I knew [my definition of love] but not completely,” said Le, explaining what his view of love was before he started dating. “Dating, at the end of the day, is about if you care about this person unconditionally. [Love is] when you’re willing to spend time with this person and you care for this person no matter what goes wrong. They’re the person you rely on, they’re the person you go back to.”

But while some relationships take time to develope, like Vinh and Reyanna, others are simpler and didn’t take as much time. Some couples take weeks, months, even years, to fall in love, while others may take only a few days and that’s okay.

Walter Turner (11) has been dating Madison Croomes (11) for the past four months. They started dating around the end of last year’s spring musical, Cinderella.

Turner defined love as, “Someone that you value as much or more than yourself.”

Another couple at LSE is Taylor Jacobsen (11) and Kevin Tran (12). The two have been dating for 11 months. One day, they started talking and it bloomed from there into this relationship.

Jacobsen thinks love is, “Someone you can consider your best friend and go to them no matter what, someone you can rely on. It’s not always about looks, but about the internal.”

Some of our couples think they have it figured out, but so do some of the people who have never even been in a relationship. Zen Boerger (10) has been single since the day of his birth.

“[Love is] a connection between two individuals who think they really know each other,” said Boerger.

Eva Terry (10) is and has been single, but she still knows about love. She had a crush in her sixth grade art class. He made a cool bird and she thought that was awesome. That was the basis of her relationship with him, and that was all it ever was. A crush.

“[Love is] when you care about something or someone,” said Terry. “[Love changes], when you start dating you’re both interested in each other, but once you date for a while you probably open up a little bit. When you’re married, you promised each other that you’d love [that person] for the rest of your life You’re relying on each other and that takes more trust and that grows the bond between you and that person.”

Claire Euse (11) has never dated anybody officially, but she too has had a few crushes in her lifetime. Specifically one in third grade who she thought was “really cute.” She had her friend ask him out for her and had the friend do most of the communication. They talked a few times on the playground at Roper, then they slowly faded away from each other. That was the extent of their relationship.

“[Love is] having strong feelings about somebody and caring about somebody,” said Euse.

Everyone has different opinions on what love is, but that’s part of what love is. Married people have their own definition of love down, the couples mainly have theirs down, and with the single people, it’s loose, but still very good. All of us have very different opinions on what love is, but that’s what love is. It doesn’t have just one definition. It’s not just one person’s opinion. Whether you’re old or young, no matter race, gender, or sexuality, it is defined by all of us as a whole. Love is love.