I don't know when the phrase really started to stick to my mind, but when it did I must have told everyone I know at least once "I love you to the moon and back." The thought of telling someone that you love them that much may seem a little unrealistic. I have no doubt that when my mother tells me that eight word phrase, she means every letter.

I love you to the moon and back has become something that I say without even thinking about its true meaning. I walk around telling my friends and family that I have infinite affection for them, but I can't help but wonder if I have been taking the impact of saying it away. It has become such second nature to me to say it, that I wonder if the message has become some kind of insignificant lip service disguised as passion that may be misplaced.

I think my generation uses the phrase "I love you" without really understanding how certain the phrase is. When I look back at the people that I have "loved," I wonder if half of them belong to the momentary feeling of love or if I truly had that willingness to die for you passionate love for them. For example, the guys I have talked to and/or dated or the friends I had that became just a phase in my life. I wonder if I really understood back then that I didn't mean it as the lasting type of love - the kind seen in my father's eyes towards my mother. Sometimes I think it is important to establish the difference in our minds.

There have been times that I have uttered those words thinking that I was on the same page as another person, only to find out that my mind was in a different place from theirs. Those times were tough, but they made me realize that loving someone should never mean that I have to forfeit my needs and personality for theirs. When my generation realizes what love really is, we might reconsider the actions we take, for those words are never just words. I love you to the moon and back.