When Love Was Easy

Love was so much simpler when we were kids. There wasn’t a long drawn out study of the prospects around us, convenience and location were key. Did they sit next to us on the bus or in class? Was their house next door to us or was their sister our best friend? Then there was the moment when we realized it was true love. It could have been when little Joey pushed you on the swing to make you go higher than everyone else or when Sally with the pigtails and skinned knee broke her cookie in half to give part to you because your Mommy forgot yours that morning and you looked sad. Maybe it was Mike at the desk in front of you who said the Pledge of Allegiance really loud who always grabbed the pencil off your desk on his way to the pencil sharpener. Or when Theresa chose you for Red Rover every time because she thought you were the biggest and fastest. In any case, you knew when that moment happened—the world stood still, the birds sang and the bell rang early. Not having learned the intricacies of mature love yet, you pulled out a clean sheet of paper and a very sharp crayon and poured your feelings onto the paper, expressing all your love and joy at finding your heart’s desire. “I love you, do you love me? Check yes or no.” If you received a yes, oh happy day! You could look at each other in class, avoid each other at lunch, and then chase each other around the playground willy-nilly with a quickly snatched kiss covered in cooties. If you got a no…dismay, perhaps a punch in the arm and that was it. You moved on, you healed quickly because you KNEW. You knew that this particular person did not return your affection, you didn’t have to guess and play games, you just knew.
And if by chance your beloved found someone else? It was over, no second chances, no trying to work through it. She/he had moved on and you did too, after informing said cheater of their resemblance to a pig’s butt.
Nowadays we are all locked into the whys, wherefores and how’s of love. Love is a chore, a job, something to be worked out. I understand that anything worth having is worth working for, but where’s the joy? Where are the spontaneity and the excitement and the breathtaking soar to the top of the swing set? I want to know where the quick, openhearted response is to my simple question. A yes or a no, love shouldn’t be multiple choice, there shouldn’t be maybe, yes buts or no buts, no try again laters, just yes or no. As for sweet natured, cherub faced blonde with her own baseball glove, how nice it would be to kick her in the shin, snatch her bald and expose her to the world as the man-snatching strumpet that she is. So much easier than keeping a good face on, being a big girl and not a crybaby.
Anyway, that’s just my little rant on the complications of love.
As for my first love? He turned the clasp around on my necklace and told me make a wish. Then he pulled my hair and ran off to play hide and seek. Now, that’s love.