“Tweasuwing Your Wuv:” West Valley Talks Love and Relationships

By Avi Vieira

Glendale

With Valentine’s Day just a couple days away, love has been hanging heavy in the air. Whether group members were part of a long term relationship
or claiming they would be forever alone it seemed everyone had an opinion about it, setting up the theme for West Valley one•n•ten: Love and Romance. Captain Mike Schneider steered the Love Boat this night by asking the youth to identify what a relationship looks like to them and what qualities should be in a healthy relationship. Many thoughtful and personal answers were given, showing that relationships are as unique as the individuals that make them up. The Love Boat crew (our trusty volunteers) shared their own ideas of relationships and the qualities they look for and appreciate in relationships. Many of the youth identified relationships they had that were platonic or philial (brotherly) with close friends that were every bit as important as the romantic variety. The youth and volunteers were asked to share personal examples of both positive and negative relationships which highlighted the need for communication, trust, and boundaries in every relationship.

Eventually the discussion moved to Love, with the group asked what Haddaway did in 1993: What is Love? There were several hilarious answers as well as thought-provoking ones that caused more than one person to look at the subject differently and what love could be. With many laughing over the idea of “Twue Wuv,” the evening wrapped with stories of romantic gestures folks have done, or that someone else had done for them. More than one person was a little verklempt in hearing about a little romance in their lives, and encouraged our youth to appreciate the love they receive and put forth into the world, as a wise man once said: “Twue wuv will fowow you foweva… So tweasure your wuv.”