Love "Once upon a time there was a boy who loved a girl, and her laughter was a question he wanted to spend his whole life answering…" These were the opening lines that began a love story so powerful that Alma Singer's parents were moved to name her after the story's heroine. These lovers, Alma's parents, would also be separated when death claimed her father, leaving Alma's mother consumed with her loss.

At not quite fifteen years of age, Alma's experience of romantic love would be limited, but that doesn't stop her from trying to find a man for her mother to love. Certainly Alma loves her mother so much that her mother's pain becomes her own, and Alma does what she can to ease her mother's suffering. Alma is motivated to try to change her mother's life for the better, and Alma too becomes preoccupied with love.

Much has been written about the human condition and the concept of love in all its various manifestations. In addition to romantic love, there is also familial love, which describes Alma's attachment to her mother, as well as her concern for her brother Bird. There have been any number of theories put forward to explain human bonding; and trying to make sense of why we humans are so concerned with love. Some theories are more illustrative than others when it comes to explaining our preoccupation with love and...

From infants to the elderly, it is in their best interests to love and be loved. We frequently hear or see stories about people surviving incredible challenges and keeping themselves motivated by thoughts of their loved ones. In many cases they wanted to spare their loved ones from grieving over their loss; or they wanted their families to be properly cared for. In each case, the thought of one's family suffering was powerful motivation for them to stay alive.
Even under less extreme circumstances, love is still important to the individual's survival and well-being, particularly when one is vulnerable because of age or immaturity, as is the case with children. It is pretty much universally accepted that a child who has a loving and nurturing family has a better chance of leading a well-adjusted life, which explains why we as a society do what we can to promote strong family bonds. It can be argued then that our preoccupation with love is partly due to our survival instincts.

Of course that rationale only begins to explain the emotional component of love. There is still a need to address why the experience of loving can be so satisfying and uplifting. One explanation is the degree to…