This is an ode of the life and times of our dear friends and companions; Love and Romance, they were killed my today’s youths, by their actions and relationships with each other. Funny right? But it’s true. These days, we have lost sight of the true meaning of love and romance, having a relationship has become more physical than emotional, people go into relationships for the wrong reasons expecting the wrong things and getting the wrong results. Readers I have been around long enough to know that a relationship could make or break you, depending on how you handle it. Gone are those days when a guy would admire one girl for years and when he does get her he cherishes her and treats her like a golden egg, gone are the days when a girl would crush over a guy, would be too shy to say a word to him and when he smiles at her she blushes for days. Where have those days gone to?

Last time I checked love was not just a magic four letter word generated by the adolescent mind to either get into a girls pants or a guy’s pocket, It meant so much more, It was a four letter word filled with hope and assurance for a brighter future, when a guy says I love you, It used to mean I choose you, out of the multitude of women out there, you are THE ONE and I intend to do my best to make you happy and keep you in my life because that’s where you belong. When a girl says I love you it used to mean, you are every girls dream but you are my reality, my prince charming and it has nothing to do with your pocket! These days, the reverse is the case, when a guy says I love you it means how fast can you lose your clothes and how good are you, when a girl says I love you it means, just how fat is your account and how much are you willing to drop? Too exaggerated you think? Well may be, but to an extent you know I’m right.

I can’t actually blame anyone, the guys or the girls. You see I blame the extinction of true love on what I call “the cycle”. What exactly is “the cycle”? It’s a circular pathway that links every ones actions and every ones reactions together all working towards the death of romance.

It all starts with a heart break at some point. Sometimes, even the people who haven’t been affected directly by the cycle hear of other people’s experiences and don’t end up doing the same thing so at the end of the day everyone is affected directly or indirectly. At the end of the day everyone loses the key ingredient in any relationship… trust.

There are exception to the rules though, some guys just see it as a way of life to cheat, they think they are way too young and can’t be tied down to one girl, some girls think “there’s plenty of me to go round. Why have one when I can have a dozen”. These categories of people just lack maturity, the bitter truth is everything that looks good fades away some day, so that thing that makes them irresistible will fade at some point, by then they might be too far gone.

Ever seen the movie “the notebook”, “dear John” or “the vow”? Now that is what real love and true romance is all about, true companionship and heart felt affections, in the note book he loved her even when she was to marry someone else, in dear john, distance and oppositions could not break the love that they built over one summer break and in the vow even the loss of her memory did not tear them apart. Call me crazy but I still believe we all deserve love like that, both guys and girls. The problem is that we all settle for less when we deserve much more.

Does he/she make me laugh? Does he/she make me feel comfortable, can I say anything to him/her? Does he/she respect my body, mind and views? Take away his/her most beautiful attribute, would I still stay? Can we face the storm together?

To be continued in the next edition.

THIS ARTICLE WAS PULLED OUT FROM SEA PUBLICATION FOR THE MONTH OF AUGUST.

Written by ANGELA NKAMERE