Sophie and Abby Stricklin both giggled at first. They had been asked what they thought the meaning of love was, and, despite the color that rushed to their faces revealing an age appropriate innocence, the two girls quickly and matter-of-factly shed light on the matter.
Sophie, the 8-year-old and youngest of the two, said she believes love is about the way you treat someone.
“I think love means being nice and giving someone something you make,” Sophie said.
Abby, her 11-year-old sister, said she shares a similar opinion on the definition of love.
“Love is all about helping one another, really,” Abby said.  “You have to be there if they ever need anything.”
We all know the cliches. A young boy picks a dandelion for the girl next door. Then there is the first time he reaches across the truck to hold her hand and steal a kiss; wedding bells in early spring; welcoming a new baby into the family; an elderly couple strolling through the park.   Each stage finds new experiences and, with that, new perspectives.
 
Middle school presents a whole new perspective on love.  Many have reached the stage of the beginnings of their first, real relationships.
In a survey of 70 eighth-graders at Caledonia Middle School, 38 said they have experienced love, while the others said they are too young to really know what love is.
Summer Arnold, 14, said she does not yet know how it feels to be in love.
“I’ve only ever read about love in books,” she said.  “But I would imagine it’s the best feeling you could get.”
Summer said from what she has read, love seems to be the most powerful feeling in the world.
“It’s the feeling of never wanting to leave that person,” she said.  “You want to always be there for them and to help and cherish them.”
She said she hopes to experience love sometime soon, but she knows she has a lot of time left.
Layne Cooper, 14, said she has a boyfriend she is in love with. She said their relationship has shown her that love is both confusing and fun.
“It’s staying beside someone in their worst,” Layne said.  “Love is telling someone that they are beautiful when they are just in sweatpants and a T-shirt.”
Just five years down the road from Summer and Layne, college lies ahead with a plethora of romantic opportunities and experiences.  The 20s are an age when many set out to find a lifelong partner.
Hannah Rachel Cardin, a 22-year-old Mississippi State University student, said she has found that person.
“Conner and I have been dating a little over four years,” she said.  “He proposed in October, and I am very excited.”
Cardin said he surprised her by popping the question one weekend after a date.
“After dinner, we walked to this fountain, and he gave me some coins to make a wish with,” she said.  “He told me I had to make my wish out loud.  Once I did, he threw his coin in and said he wished I would marry him.  He got down on one knee and pulled out this beautiful antique ring.”
She immediately said yes, and the two are planning a wedding for this December.
Cardin said she is confident in their future together because of the length of their relationship.
“We’ve had several years to get to know each other and realize that marriage takes work, and it’s not all just the sappy stuff you see in the movies,” she said.  “You really have to know that it’s for better or worse, and, in four years, you see both.”
She said the secret is truly getting to know the person you’re with before you make that leap.
“In today’s time, it can be scary to make such a commitment with divorce rates and caution from friends and family,” Cardin said. “You want someone you can trust will never give up, but if you spend time dating someone and talking about those things, then marriage is exciting, and the rest of your life is something to look forward to.”
Marriage comes with a whole new set of ideas.  Love is already found, and the focus shifts more toward keeping it and continuing to grow together.
Mary Love Tagert, research assistant professor at MSU, has been married 10 years with two children and one on-the-way.
She said her perception of love has matured over the years.
“I think I definitely have a better understanding of what love is now that we’ve been married 10 years,” Tagert said.  “You go through different phases, and you learn to change both independently and as a couple.”
She said she knows what she has is true love, which is a reassuring feeling.
“Marriage is knowing you’re in it for the long haul, during the good times and the bad times,” Tagert said.  “When you commit yourself to someone else, you know that no matter what you go through and endure as a couple, you’re going to work through it. It is work sometimes, but it’s definitely worth it.”
She said she has also learned over the years the best way to show someone you love him or her varies from person to person.
“You have to know what your partner or spouse responds to,” Tagert said.  “For some people it’s affection, for some it’s deeds and for some it’s gifts.  For us, it’s a combination of things; we show that we love each other by doing things, spending time with one another and showing affection.  It’s important to laugh together and to have fun together.”
She said she now understands love to be knowing one would do absolutely anything for someone else and that person is not able to live without him or her.
 ”You shouldn’t be in a rush, but when you meet the right person, you’ll know it,” Tagert said.
Bailey Howell, 75-year-old MSU alumnus, said he knows love now more than ever.
He has been married for almost 53 years, which he attributes to the teachings of the Bible.
“If you try to follow what the Bible teaches, then marriage relationship is for life,” Howell said.  “So if you go into your marriage with the attitude not that we can make it work but that we have to make it work, then it’s going to work. With that type of attitude, the love can grow and become deeper and more meaningful.”
He said the trick to having lasting love lies in selflessness.
“In chapter two of Philippians, the first few verses talk about how we need to look after the needs of others and consider those needs more important than our own,” he said.  “If someone asks you to go with them one mile, go with them two miles.”
He said true love can be found by knowing what your partner needs and accepting whatever that may be takes top priority, no matter what.