You Know It's Love When...

The word love can mean different things to different people.  It's compassion, empathy, the blood that keeps the heart pumping.  But, when do you know it's love you feel?

For new moms, the love comes instantly.  While I didn't give birth to my son, I fell in love with him the moment he was born...even more when I got to hold him in my arms...even more when I was able to legally adopt him.  That love continues to grow.  You only wipe boogers with your bare fingers off of the face of a little one if you love them.

As far as family members go, while you don't get to choose your siblings, parents, grandparents or other relatives, there is an unspoken love there.  They can piss you off, make you laugh, make you proud and make you bat-shit crazy.  But, the family in which you are raised is more often than not full of love.

Friends, true friends, are great because YOU choose them.  There is something about a friend that you have decided you like and even love.  They keep you grounded.  They have your back.  They are a shoulder to lean on, the ones you share the good times with and the bad.  We are at our best with people in which we can be ourselves.  Belch with, swear with, laugh with and cry with.  Friends are there with the love you need when you need it most.

So, when it comes to finding your partner in life, my philosophy is that it's more likely to work if you're true friends.  Whether you're gay, straight, bi-sexual, you choose the partner you want to spend the rest of your life with because you love them.  You feel comfortable with them.  You feel passion.  You are able to be your true self.

True love means leaving the bathroom door open when you're taking the Browns to the Super Bowl.  It means not thinking twice as you pop your zit in front of the bathroom mirror with your partner right there.  It means giving high fives when a belch lasts so long you could have recited the alphabet twice.  And then there is the 'toot' test.  Do you feel comfortable enough with someone to fess up to the fact that you were the one who released the silent but deadly toxin into the air?

So, before you proclaim your 'love' for someone or something ask yourself, 'would he/she/it think less of me if I let 'er rip in front of them?'  Would they run screaming in the opposite direction if they saw how I really looked at 5 in the morning?  Would they act like popping a zit was as disgusting as chocolate-covered cat poop?

If you're lucky enough to have a partner in life, a friend or family members...look at them, do you love them?  Are you annoyed by or do you laugh at their burps, farts, and exploding pimples?  Your answer is the answer.