Whether it begins in the maternity ward,

Or ends down the hall.

With two sets of eyes meeting from across the room,

Or years of knowing finally becoming,

Is there anything more we really need in this life, than love…sweet love?

***

With a few million-billion to choose from,

Starting in times before we even had the language to describe it,

Every love story is truly a great one.

Because to the characters involved,

It’s utterly life-changing.

Stories of how you came to be wed,

Or how you found your twin-flame.

Of how the bundle in your arms came to be,

Or of the one who seemed to always just get you.

Whether it’s told on paper, or on the screen.

To a tune, or around a table –

There’s not a love story that isn’t worth it’s time in the sun, nor place on the shelf.

Never one that’s not worth telling,

Nor one that won’t make your life that little bit better or warmer simply by hearing it.

Just like how a good laugh, or a good cry can get your day back on track,

A good love can get your life back on track.

Stories of a love we know,

Or one we don’t –

Every once in a while we hear one,

And our lives are forever changed.

Stories that stay with us,

And those that affirm our belief that this is exactly what we’ve been put here to do;

To forge connections with one another,

And to love – and love deeply.

***

It can be daunting.

Putting ourselves and our hearts out there.

The journey to love, and being in love, can hurt.

Our hearts that can love so deeply,

Can shatter into a million pieces just as easily,

Leaving us vulnerable, raw, and doubtful.

Vowing to never be so stupid as to ever love again.

It’s not for the faint of heart,

But it’s what we as humans do best.

We love, we fall, we love some more.

Powering ever-on in the hopes of forging something real and ever-lasting.

***

In a world of division,

Celebrating that which bonds us can be all the inspiration we need to dust ourselves off, and strive ever forward.

A fuel when we are running on empty,

An inspiration to the blocked,

And an endless, rose-coloured source of light we can draw upon to guide us through our darkest times.

***

Love is all we need.

We come into the world loving,

And if we’re lucky,

We can be sent off surrounded by the love we’ve made in our time here as well.

So here’s to love,

To those we love,

And those we are lucky enough to have love us in return.

Throughout the storms,

The highs,

And the lows.

Love –

It’s there for the taking,

And always, inexhaustibly, there for the giving.

…Baby, just say yes.