By Sydney Arnold
Love conquers all, this I believe. Love is such a small, simple word. It is often paired with two other small, simple words and some throw them around carelessly. “I love you”…some are quick to say it, while for others it could take years. That is the difference between saying it because you think you should and saying it because you feel it. But what is love? How can love be defined? You tell your parents you love them but can’t wait to move out when things don’t go your way. You don’t tell your siblings you love them, yet you would destroy anyone who made them feel unloved. You and your boyfriend or girlfriend exchange, “I love you,” but break up in the end. It is enough to make someone wonder if love is good or bad.
Yet, knowing all of these things, we still look for love, want love, strive for love…We need love. Love is a driving force in a cruel, uncaring world. Love isn’t complicated, people are. Love brings people together, and it is corruption that tears them apart. Love is the greatest thing a person can have. If you can love and be loved then you have already won in life. A loving person is not bitter, uncaring, or angry. They are able to find happiness in the things and people around them.
My grandmother is an example of this kind of person. She was married to my grandfather and he had a tendency to drink. He would get drunk every night for years and turn into a mean, violent person. My grandma stayed with him through the years of violence and heartache. She bailed him out of jail, put him to bed after a long night of drinking, and made sure he always had breakfast, lunch, and dinner…Even after the rough night before. She showed him unconditional love until the day he died from the effects of his addiction. How can you show someone so much love when they just drink and spite you? It takes a truly loving person.
Love is what takes someone from being a stranger to a lifelong friend. It is what gives someone patriotism and a willingness to die for a country that they love. Wow, death! Even love can be seen in something such as the end of earthly life. A person will die for someone or something that they love. People lay down their life for their country, religion, family, friends. There is an instinct to protect what you love that is in animals and humans alike. Love can give a person hope in the darkest times, or it can make a person cry. However, there is nothing wrong with tears. Crying can open a person’s heart to love or it can be an ultimate expression of love. There are tears of joy, but also tears of sorrow that can be the result of missing someone or losing someone you care about.
It all comes back to love, the small, simple word. The word that harbors as much meaning as you put behind it. The word that empowers people to go beyond themselves and consider others. Love conquers all, this I believe.
