Those three little words

By Alisha Bentley
Sherman High School

The words “I love you” mean something different to everyone. It’s up to you to make your own definition.

“‘I love you’ means that you have more feelings than friendship and a deeper connection with a person than anyone else,” said Sherman sophomore Kellie Overton. “When you love a person, things begin to change. They suddenly become a better friend than you ever imagined possible and everything they do is somehow adorable. You actually trust them and believe them no matter what.”

“When someone tells me that they love me, I take it to mean that they are always going to do whatever they can to help me and they’ll always be there when I need them,” said Ciera Lutsy, also a Sherman sophomore.

Freshman Amber Harper said, “The words ‘I love you’ mean a lot to me. I was taught that they meant that [a person] will care for you and be there for you.”

Despite all the definitions of love that the world has, it’s not always as easy as it seems to say those three little words to your someone special.

“I thought that saying those three little words was going to be easy, but when the time came for me to say them, I froze and I didn’t know what to do because I knew that it would change everything between me and him,” admitted Lutsy.

Unfortunately, while the phrase is sometimes reserved for that special someone, at other times, it is said without meaning. “I’ve told someone that I love them and I usually mean it,” Lutsy said. “But I have said it to a boyfriend and didn’t mean it.”

Overton disagrees, though. “I have told someone that I love them and of course I meant it when I said it. You should always mean it when those three words come out of your mouth.”

But when should you say “I love you”? When you tell someone that, should it be in a romantic environment?

“No, it doesn’t have to be at a romantic time,” Lutsy said. “If you feel it, say it — don’t wait.”

“It can be in a romantic environment, but I don’t think it needs to be,” agreed Overton. “Love doesn’t depend on a place, time or occasion. It’s all about your heart. If you love someone, tell them. It doesn’t matter where you are because to the other person, it could turn out to be the most romantic place in the world.”

It’s up to you to decide when and where to say “I love you” for the first time, but you should always mean it when you say it.