“Young love”, such a touchy subject, but I’ll never understand why. In my mind, the whole concept is actually quite simple. Regardless of the age, when you have two people that care for one another on a deep level, they know that. As teenagers, parents assure us that it’s just “puppy love.” What’s the difference of truly loving someone at age 17 or age 45? It’s more than possible that a 17 year old could have the same feelings for their significant other that a 45 year old has for theirs. So, why is it that parents can’t just accept the fact that their children could very well be, “in love?”
When I was a sophomore in high school I began dating my current boyfriend who is a year older than me. Now, as a sophomore in college, we are still together. In high school I heard everything from “Oh, it’s just a fling”, “When he goes to college, you guys will break up”, “You’re holding each other back.” Blah, blah, blah. Perhaps at first, I took these comments more seriously, but as time progressed, they started to wither away and have no significance, whatsoever. There’s no doubt in my mind that I am in love with my boyfriend and I’ve felt this way for a long time.
Since I’ve been in college, my parents have been more understanding of my relationship. Is it because I’m older now and more mature? Who knows? Society frowns upon “young love” saying that we don’t know what love is. However, when we tell our parents we love them, they don’t deny it. Our parents would never tell us, “Oh, you don’t love me, you’re too young to love us.” Instead, they say “I love you, too.” So how is it that we’re too young to be in love with a significant other, but we’re not too young to love our own parents?
I realize that loving a partner and loving your parents is respectfully different, but ultimately, the feelings of compassion and care are very similar. I believe that love is best understood through experience, which is what most adults think we lack as young teens/adults. Young love, in my opinion, is a real and true feeling.
Love is all about seeing beyond one’s flaws. If we can look past a person’s flaws and still want to give them the world, then the love is real; whether you’re young by societies standards or not.
