"you are one of the only things that keeps a smile on my face here"

-my husband said that =] he is deployed.

So, for people who have only said "i love you" to one person, you're lucky. to those of you who have your entire heart or "rose" as i like to call it to give to that one special person, good job. i'm sure that they are more than happy that they have your whole, beautiful rose. just because people "dated" in middle school does not mean that they do not know what love is. There is nothing wrong with pretending to have a little boyfriend in middle school and there is nothing wrong with venturing out in high school and "dating". I do agree that saying "i love you" to every human with a penis is wrong. Love is a very strong word and a very strong commitment. That's right; love is not a feeling. Love is a choice. You wake up and you decide "I am going to love this person" and you make that choice each and every day for that one special person. It is fully commiting yourself to them and committing your heart to them each day. That even when you want to scream at them and when you feel like you hate them, you can look them in the eyes and tell them that you love them. It's like, even though you want to rip their heads off, you know that at the end of the day or at the end of that hour or at the end of that minute, you want nothing more than to be with them.
DO NOT think that just because you fell in love once and you know it's going to be the only time, that your love is "better" or that it's the only kind of love out there. you just got lucky. i see nothing wrong with people who have only said "i love you" to one person and who have only dated that one person. kudos to you...you beat the odds, but trust me, it doesn't make you the "love guru". I have loved two people in my life. I have. I will not be one of those naive people who lie to try and hide the pain by saying "i guess i never loved him".
A) you don't "guess" if you love someone; you KNOW.
B) while love is fragile, it is very possible for the human being to love more than one person...we do it everyday.
romantic love is so much different than friendship or family love. I don't believe you "fall in love" and i certainly don't believe you "fall out of love". Love is not hearts and cupid, and holding hands and blah blah blah that the entertainment world has made it out to be. Love is a choice; a commitment that you make to one person.
I love Justin Carter with everything in me. He supports me in everything I do, but lets me know when I am wrong. He gives me the world and so much more because he is one of the very few people in this world who think I deserve it. He knows everything about me and still wants to wake up next to me every morning. He is love.
So, for those of you who have been "in love" and "dated" in middle school, don't think that you are a bad person or that you don't know what love means. Don't give up on love or on the opposite sex. If you settle on the fact that you've given too much of your "rose" away, you may never find the one person who deserves the entire rose. While they may deserve it, if they love you, they will take your wilted rose and give it everything it needs to make it whole again.