Togetherness. Companionship. Romance. All these describe one word: the most passionate, strong, meaningful word of relationships in the entire universe, love. Love is a beautiful thing to the young, the old; in fact, ANY age. Many of us experience it in our lives. No, we aren't talking about the love that you feel for your parents or family. We are talking about the love for others that sometimes gets a little more serious.

As a celebration of the month of passion, the beloved month of February, let's go through the stages, pros, cons, and people's opinions of love.

STAGE 1: The Little Crush
We all know what a crush is; most of us have had millions of them, and we can sometimes get so caught up in them it messes up our personality.

You are in the middle of gym class and then he walks in. The cutest, coolest, and most popular guy in the whole school. Your eyes bulge out of your head, your palms sweat, and all your attention goes to that one single human being.

Why does this happen? It's called attraction, when one person is drawn to another by a personal liking. The crush is the first step. Sometimes crushes are things that you just can't get rid of. Sometimes you can even get a crush on people that you don't really, really like, but you just like them for their looks, a VERY common experience for most of us.

STAGE 2: The Boyfriend/Girlfriend
Okay, maybe that little crush grew into something bigger, into the boyfriend/girlfriend stage! Yup, this is also a very common experience, but mostly with older teens. This happens when a guy/girl really likes the opposite sex and wants to turn the crush into something more real.

STAGE 3: Romance
YES! You and your boyfriend/girlfriend are going steady! Your relationship is great and you spend lots of time together. Romance comes in when you are devoted to each other and are very passionate to eachother.

STAGE 4: Love
You are in love. BIG TIME. You and your boyfriend/girlfriend spend every minute you have together and you have a very healthy relationship. You are best friends and you are hopelessly devoted to one another. This person is probably the one that you will spend the rest of your live with. For OLDER cases, good relationships can lead to marriage, the Stage 5 of a relationship. But that's only for people over 18.

But there are other possibilities. Say that you don't have a very healthy relationship. You don't really see eachother, and it's more at Stage 2 for you and your boyfriend/girlfriend. This can cause a breakup. Some breakups can be quick and easy, but others are sort of slow and hard to do. The relationship keeps on decaying and breaking apart, and it's hard for the two that are involved in it.

PROS:

1. You have someone to love.
2. You are happy and content.
3. You are getting an ounce of what life is.
4. You feel special.

CONS:

1. You can't concentrate on your schoolwork.
2. You are getting bad grades from distraction.
3. It's just a little fling, and not anything big.
4. You really don't care either way.

This article is not saying that love is a bad thing, but that it is delicate and sweet, and you have to wait until you find the right person to give it to. So, in honor of St. Valentine's Day, celebrate by letting the one you love know that you love them, and have a happy Valentine's Day.

If you have any questions, comments, or want to be interviewed, please, don't hesitate to Y-mail me.

I would also like to add that this article was written with help from one of my good friends, Genevieve B.