DEAR ABBY: My best friend, "Ronald," and I decided to start dating a month ago. He recently told me that he loves me, and I think I love him, too.
My problem is, about a year ago, I got out of a three-year marriage that went totally wrong. We married very young: I was 17, he was 23. During my divorce, I began to wonder what "love" really is. I thought I knew and that's why I got married. Now I'm just not sure.
Ronald is a really great guy. I respect him and I know he respects me because of the friendship that we have. Please help me define love, as this is important. -- KELLY, ONTARIO, CANADA
DEAR KELLY: Love means liking a person as well as loving him or her. If the most important part of your relationship is physical, and you don't seem to have much to talk about -- face it, it's just a physical attraction. Love is giving, not taking. It wants the best for the one you love. Love makes you want to charge out into the world and DO as well as THINK big. It makes you want to share your thoughts and dreams -- it's honest and open. Love doesn't arrive in an instant. It takes time to grow and flower, and when the storms of life blow in, it doesn't wither.
Make no more hasty decisions. Continue to date Ronald, and in six months, compare your feelings to my definition of love. If they measure up, you will know it's love.