So, I have this "thing": I like to tell people that I love them. Sometimes I am worried that the objects of my affections have the wrong ideas about me so I'm going to explain what I mean when I say "I love you".

For most of my childhood my parents didn't tell me they loved me very often so I was never used to hearing it. I thought that love only had the one meaning, like the Greek word eros (passionate love). (Disclaimer: We aren't the huggiest of all families, but we do love each other each other even if we didn't verbally affirm the fact. There is no doubt about that!)

So it turns out, I'm wrong. There really are different types of love.

Story: Last year one of the most amazing people moved into my apartment (Hi, Susie!) and she would tell me that she loved me. Now I knew that she didn't passionately love me, so I tried to figure out what that meant. How could she love me in any other way. I mean, for Pete's sake, my parents didn't ever say it. So it took awhile after her telling me this over the phone or before bed, or ... whenever... to formulate what it means, this whole "love" thing.

So when I say "I love you", this is what I tend to mean:

I care about you. I have a vested interest in your happiness. You are someone I look up to. I want to make sure you are OK. I like being around you. You lift me up. I am loyal to our friendship. You amaze me. You are someone I trust. I can talk to you, and hopefully you can talk to me. Essentially, it means that I "hold you in high regard." It doesn't mean that I am passionately in love with you, but it does mean that you are special to me.

I want you to be happy, because you already do the same for me.

I hope no one is offended by this... but love is special and it really can mean different things. Agape. Eros. Philia. The Greeks were right... there are a lot of meanings behind one word in English. I just hope that our meanings all coordinate.

Goodnight, I love you.

"There are as many forms of love as there are moments in time." -Jane Austin, Mansfield Park