Loving

I finally watched Valentine's Day yesterday. I'm a softy, and I spent the whole movie making high-pitched sounds of  "awwwwwww"!!! It's an extremely awwww-able movie, and I loved every second of it! I found myself rooting for Ashton Kutcher's character (I usually hate everything he does, on principle, you know), hating Patrick Dempsey (NEVER thought I'd hate McDreamy one day!) and finding a creepingly serious kid the most endearing ever. Whenever I wasn't awwww-ing, I was smiling or laughing. Besides, the ice on the casting cake: one of my eternal crushes Topher Grace and I-love-her-and-wanna-be-just-like-her Anne Hathaway! And a great surprise awaited me with Julia Robert's last scene: I cried immediately and shamelessly. Happy "oh, isn't it adorable?!" tears, of course.
And one of the things that made me smile to the point of hurting my jaw was one of Shirley Mclane's lines; I tried to find the exact quote on the internet, but since it's a very recent movie, I couldn't find it. But it went something along these lines: "When you love someone, you love them as a whole, and not just the good parts. The bad parts too."
If you really do love something or someone - be it your significant other, a friend or family - there is no "despite". Only "because". You love everything that makes that person be what they are, and that includes what we have the bad habit of calling "flaws". There are no flaws - only traits. That doesn't mean, at all, that you should delude yourself and consider the other perfect; it means that you should try to see them as clearly as you can, and take them for who they are - and annoying habits, bad-temper, silences, angry words, and what-nots come with the package. Stop labeling one's traits as "qualities" or "flaws" and just accept them. At least, that's my philosophy. For me, that's love - and loyalty.

But then again, I'm in a romantic mood. I was on the subway on my way to the cinema yesterday, and this adorable old couple entered. He looked strong enough, but his wife was small and really fragile-looking, and he helped her take every single step. As it turns out, there was only one available seat, three seats away from me; she sat down, and he was left standing by her side. I did the only thing there was to be done: I stood up at once and offered him my seat.

Adorable Old Man [smiling kindly at me]: "Oh no child, thank you very much, but that won't be necessary"
Me: "Oh please, I insist!"
Adorable Old Man then smiled kindly once more, while stroking his wife's snowy hair in the most gentle manner: "Oh no. You see, I don't wanna be away from her". Adorable Fragile-Looking Old Woman looked at me, smiling just as sweetly.
Three seats. They didn't wanna be three seats away from each other.
Growing old like that? We should be so lucky.