Early Morning Thoughts ~ Amore (part 2)

Valentine's Day is right around the corner and being the terminal romantic that I am, (the symptom of terminal romanticism: we pat the sandwiches after we make them) I've been thinking about love. A number of years ago Art Linkletter had a section of his TV program called "Kids Say The Darndest Things." Of course, the joy of that program was his ability to get children to admit to things their parents were usually horrified to hear. One little girl I remember announced her Mother's pregnancy on national television - something her Mother had not told ANYONE, including the Father!

However, children have insights that we adults (who have lost our childlike enthusiasm for life) tend to miss.


A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds, "What does love mean?"
The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined.

What do 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. That's love."
--Rebecca- age 8

"When someone loves you, the way
they say your name is different.
You just know that your name is
safe in their mouth."
--Billy - age 4

"Love is when a girl puts on perfume
and a boy puts on shaving cologne
and they go out and smell each other."
--Karl - age 5

"Love is when you go out to eat
and give somebody most of your
French fries without making them
give you any of theirs."
--Chrissy - age 6

"Love is what makes you smile
when you're tired."
--Terri - age 4

"Love is when my mommy makes
coffee for my daddy and she takes
a sip before giving it to him, to
make sure the taste is OK."
--Danny - age 7

"Love is when you kiss all the time.
Then when you get tired of kissing,
you still want to be together and
you talk more.
My Mommy and Daddy are like that.
They look gross when they kiss"
--Emily - age 8

"Love is what's in the room
with you at Christmas
if you stop opening presents and listen."
--Bobby - age 7 (Wow!)

"If you want to learn to love better,
you should start with a friend
who you hate,"
--Nikka - age 6
(we need a few million more
Nikka's on this planet)

"Love is when you tell a guy you
like his shirt,
then he wears it everyday."
--Noelle - age 7

"Love is like a little old woman and
a little old man who are still friends
even after they know each other so well."
--Tommy - age 6

"During my piano recital, I was on
a stage and I was scared. I looked
at all the people watching me and
saw my daddy waving and smiling.
He was the only one doing that.
I wasn't scared anymore."
--Cindy - age 8

"My mommy loves me more
than anybody .
You don't see anyone else kissing
me to sleep at night."
--Clare - age 6

"Love is when Mommy gives Daddy
the best piece of chicken."
--Elaine-age 5

"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy
smelly and sweaty and still says
he is handsomer than Brad Pitt."
--Chris - age 7

"Love is when your puppy licks
your face even after you left him
alone all day."
--Mary Ann - age 4

"When you love somebody, your
eyelashes go up and down and
little stars come out of you."
(what an image)
--Karen - age 7

"You really shouldn't say 'I love you'
unless you mean it.
But if you mean it, you should say it a lot.
People forget."
--Jessica - age 8

And the final one --
Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia
supposedly 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,
climbed onto his lap, and just sat there.
When his Mother asked what he had
said to the neighbor, the little boy said,
"Nothing, I just helped him cry"

more on amore later