Love is Patient. Love is Kind…and what the word love means. | Chapel Hill, North Carolina Photographer

During these holidays, I would like to talk with you about the word love.

We use it often to describe things, people, and our affection for both. I am totally that person who often exclaims, “I LOVE THAT!”

And when we hear that word love, how many of us think in terms of romantic love?  What if we reminded ourselves that love is not just for the romance, but for the friends and community that surround us?

This line of thinking kept occurring to me these last few months as I have been photographing families who squeeze together in a hearty hug for a portrait

or at an event in support of a worthy cause, like the gala held in honor of Judge Carl Fox of Orange County.

Merriam-Webster defines love as

• a feeling of strong or constant affection for a person
• affection based on admiration, benevolence, or common interests
• a warm attachment or devotion to something, like a love of the ocean
• other romantically-inclined definitions

The verse that we often hear that involves love is very often used at weddings, but what if it wasn’t meant for romantic love, but the love between friends?

May we all have these friends.  May we be all these friends.