It was very apt to fray,

And what was last night scenic

May seem cynic by today.

The play's not done.

Oh, no - not quite,

For life never ends in the moonlit night;

And despite what pretty poets say,

The night is only half the day.

So we would like to truly finish

What was foolishly begun.

For the story is not ended

And the play is never done

Until we've all of us been burned a bit

And burnished by - the sun!

Love, were constantly looking for it. Constantly craving it. Constantly, a little frightened of it. The poem I just quoted is from The longest running musical in the world "the Fantasticks". Coincidentally its about two children falling in love, Think back for a second about all the movies you've seen this last month, the books you've read and the music you've listened to. How much of it is about love? Think back, happen to see the box office hit "Sleepless in Seattle" or "first Knight"? Happen to listen to Chicago , Michael Bolton or the Unforgettable Nat King Cole?

Now I know it might seem a little strange for you to see a boy stand up and talk about love, well why is that? We all feel it , as the old saying goes "Everyone can understand the language of love". Now look, I may not be the best at understanding it or how to deal with it but another saying states "you learn more from teaching then from being taught "sooo I being a high school male having the most to learn have the most to talk about, right? You see I have no self confidence with girls, whenever a girl tells me yes, I tell her to think it over. I was in love with this girl once, beautiful girl one day, she called me up and in a sexy voice said, "come on over , there's nobody home" - I went over and there was nobody home. To get back on topic it is a very complex word love. As stated in the Webster's dictionary:

noun loves

1 : strong affection

2 : warm attachment

3 : beloved person

4 : feel affection for

5 : enjoy greatly

The correct thing to say in a debate round at this point would be, Now that we have the definition of love down we can carry on the............ will we as people except this definition of love? Can we except it? Or is it much more? I have love for my family, love for my pets, love I save for the occasional romance and love for the arts. I sure hope they can't all be defined the same way because I think my date this Saturday would get pretty upset if I patted her on the tail, scratched behind her ears, asked her for my allowance and told her I just wanted to buy the soundtrack.

Ill be defining love today in three major points: First what is is, second where you find it, and lastly will be my conclusion, which is basically, my conclusion.

now what exactly is love, some say love is a deep feeling inside you , some say it is when your willing to risk your life for that person, some say it's the presence of God within you, some say it's allowing being, some say, some say, some say. What really matters is what you say, and what you say and what you say. There's only 1 kind of love but there are thousands of different versions and varieties. What is your version I wonder, or yours? is yours the right one? Is there a right one....... I'm not sure if there is a right one, but I do know there is a wrong one, and the wrong one is not to love at all.

Now lets travel back in time to the playground gravel of elementary school. Now picture this your running away from a girl who is trying to kiss you on the cheek, she catches you kisses you and you scream cooties at the top of your lungs! Your watching a movie with your family, the gushy scene comes up, you turn away while your little sister gets googleie eyed and has nothing more to say then "how romantic". Now there might not be much of your average every day love here but you have to look deeper, the family siting together watching a movie, the little girl with her fist crush.......

We will now travel forward in time to 7th grade, boy's start to notice girls, girls notice that the guy they have had a crush on since 2nd grade looked at her as he was passing down the hall, and that must mean he likes her more then Betty Sue. Yes this is the "TIME" of crushes. You tell our parents that you have to have your own phone line. So you can talk to Jimmy big mouth who will tell you about everyone's problems but you won't tell a soul, except your best friend.

But now is a different story in our lives, we are High Schoolers this is when things really matter. A time where those all important relationships could make or break our entire lives, but will only last until next Tuesday. This is the time of the all famous High school prom. Dating, having the best chick mobile and wearing just the right style of clothing to get the other sex to notice.

Even though I'm only a young man this brings back a lot of memories for me and I hope it dose for you as well. love is something that develops and changes, but that we experience all our lives. There is a saying "He is the lucky one who has love for his work" and another saying I like "By giving love you receive ten fold in return".

And now for the problem. The problem with love is do we really understand it? do we really want to understand it? we all understand the Hollywood love affair boy meets girl , girl meets boy an hour and a half of meaningless script and special fx, throw in some magic powder, think happy thoughts and they all live happily ever after.

Lets go back to the play I quoted from at the start of my talk. The musical's first act is entitled "In the Moonlight" (that's where all the romantic stuff takes place). The second act which this poem starts off is called "In the Sunlight" basically what happens after they live "happily ever after".

This is our problem, as American movie watchers playgoers and music enthusiasts we only want the happily ever after part. were constantly looking for the ever popular Mr. or Miss. RIGHT. And to find anything less would be uncivilized. It's very hard to find that other half that is the perfect person in every way. It's even harder to be that perfect person in every way. No one ever teaches us how to be in love, you can buy books on how fish, how to win at cards, how to eat healthier and how to be the best on your block at underwater basket weaving. Lately you can even buy Nick Casanova's Machiavellian guide to womanizing. Where do we learn how to treat someone we care for? You might say from your parents but my mother talked so much about the birds and the bee's that it took me years to get interested in girls.

A friend of mine the other day asked me how to treat girls he liked this girl and she liked him and he wanted to make it last. Not just be a one week relationship. He asked, "should I act like a jock, romance her, treat her like dirt , What". I told him I wanted to think about it and get back to him. I pondered and thought for two days when with a little bit of luck I saw the awe famous Lerner and Lowe classic Camelot and told him this story. King Arthur cared for guinevere more then anything in the world. He was awe struck by her beauty and amazed by her mind. No one ever taught Arthur how to love either and he had no experience with it. He tried everything from giving her gifts and showing off his riches to acting like a strong brave knight. None of it seemed to work. Finally in desperation he went to his childhood and life long adviser Merlin. "Merlin" he asked "how do you treat a woman? do I flatter her?" he beg him answer "do I threaten or cajole or plead? Do I brood, play the game, romance her?" said he smiling "No indeed, How to treat a woman is to love her, simply love her, merely love her, love her, love her. and it will come to you" Arthur was so overjoyed he ran all the way back to the castle. But wait, I forgot to tell you, throughout all this time the brave night sir Lancelot entered the scene, though all of the good kings cajoling Lancelot showed true love for guinevere, the one thing she needed. It was too late for Arthur. But its not to late for us!

So now for the climax after all this what - to me- is love? Well love is a all encompassing feeling that is confusing and contagious. No one quite knows what it is, yet everyone is sure they "got" it. One can feel it toward a pet, a mother, a brother or a friend. But most of all love is the knowledge that without that person, you could not see quite as well, breath quite as well, hear quite as well or be quite as well because you know that without them you are missing part of yourself.

Why do we love? We don't know. We as mammals are the only ones that do it. Is it natural? maybe. Is it God dwelling within us, maybe...... do we need it..... I think so, I know I do and I hope you do to. . Have you told anyone you loved them today? have you wished anyone good luck on a upcoming round? have you given anyone a hug and told them you appreciated them? Have you written anything supportive on someone's ballot ? Maybe you could.

Jones, Tom; Schmidt, Harvey: The Fantasticks, pgs. 73, 157

Applause Theater Book Publishers, 1990 New York, NY

Webster's Electronic Dictionary, Concise Edition

Meriam-Webster Inc., Proximity Technology Inc., 1987, 1989

"How to Handle a Woman", Camelot

Music; Frederick Lowe, Lyrics; Alan Jay Lerner

Weller, Anthony; "Camelot" The Best of Broadway, The Sullivan Years

Warner Brothers, 1967

The World Book Encyclopedia, W.C.Bea. "Mammal"

Field Enterprises Inc., Chicago. 1953