Love is Weird, isn't it?

I'm kinda weird about the word "Love".
Mike and I met at a Christmas Party on Dec. 7 1982. We both then left for the Christmas break - he to Philly and me to East Tenn. We exchanged a couple letters and then had our first date on Jan. 2. So we were in that weird time of just figuring things out when Valentines day rolled around. Don't want to ignore the day, but don't want to make it too big. But then what if the other person does something big? - you know.
So I bought a box of those little message hearts and trekked across campus to his apartment when I knew he'd be in class and I taped the box of candy hearts and a card onto the outside of his door. Here's the weird part - I first went through the box and took out any heart with the word Love on it. Yeah, I did.
It was just too important of a word to be tossed around on little candy hearts - especially when things were feeling so right. And maybe some of it has to do with my passion for words - they mean things to me. But mostly I think it was because I'd seen Love up close in my family. I knew it was a serious word, with serious implications and serious responsibilities. A word which encompassed only a few. I still give Love a lot of thought. Even writing "Love, Kay" on a card, isn't something I do lightly.
I put up my Valentine's decorations yesterday and that's what got me thinking about all this. I've saved the nice cards Mike and I exchanged or the hand made ones the kids gave us through the years and they serve as the bulk of my decorations. Every last one of 'em says, "Love."
And means it.