The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

Is Romance Dead?



While traveling along the exotic public transit I spot a wide variety of people. Some of these people are entertainingly interesting, such as the homeless bongo player I played with who I happened upon while traveling home. Others are, in keeping with the motto of Portland; keep Portland weird, weird. With these few exceptions most people are normal. As is with everywhere you are to go you are bound to see many couples. Some of these couples are just beginning to blossom in their relationship. You can tell the difference between the couples in love and those couples who you know are either on their way to love or are completely incompatible. I spot these couples everywhere. Whether it be at bus stops, on the train, or even at school, couples appear to me. Many couples, both young and old, upon scrutiny, are in love. The couple I spot at the bus stop are staring into each others' eyes with such a deep admiration I can almost see the love discharging from their every pore. I can almost see the, unspoken, vibrant, red connection that we have labeled as love shining from their actions to be absorbed by their partner. The romance is demonstrated by the simple actions the various couples share. Whether it be holding one's hand, pulling out their chair, or even opening the door, these actions display romance at it's finest.

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When one travels the public transit or spends an absurd amount of time in contact with the public one notices things. One such thing that I've noticed is the way couples interact with one another. On a bright sunny afternoon, about a month back, a couple boarded the train that I was riding. They sat down next to each other but that's about where the interaction ceased. The guy made no attempt at any sort of interaction with his girlfriend. He simply listened to, and sang quite badly to, his music. When I saw this my first reaction was one of disgust. How could you be in any kind of relationship with someone, how could to spend time with someone, how could be in one's company for an extended period of time yet not even talk to them?

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As the journey progressed I continued to observe the couple, as I would generally do, in an attempt to solve this conundrum. Why wouldn't he interact? He made no attempts to kiss her, which I consider to be among the most passionate displays of affection, no eye contact, or even the simple yet romantic gesture of holding her hand. I happened upon the possibilities that they had perhaps had a fight or were uncomfortable with showing pubic displays of affection. I shortly shot these down. First, if they were truly in a fight they would not be sitting comfortably next to one another. They would be bickering, have angry expressions, and their body language would be tense. Second, if they were just uncomfortable with public affection then why not talk to her? You do not sit next to someone you admire in deeper ways without having conversation. That would be as pointless as wearing a ski jacket in the summer sun.

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I came to no conclusion on that particular ride. I decided to let the subject rest for the time being and later let it come to my mind. Later that night as I lay in bed the ride translucently appeared before my eyes once again. I replayed the events that took pace. The actions the young man had taken flashed through my eyes as I thought; why had he acted this way? Was it simply because he had no real feelings for this girl? This is party true. I believe that the man simply lacked an understanding of what romance is. I began to delve deeper as I drifted off to images of my last relationship. Was it possible that romance had died off? Had the deep red connection vanished?

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I awoke the next morning thinking more in depth about my past relationship. By scouring through the past year could I possibly prove that romance did exist? The relationship I refer to is with a a young lady, who is six months my junior, named Cassie. While thinking about our relationship during the day I stumbled upon a some relevant memories half buried in the ground. When we were dating I did those sort of things reserved for romantic comedies and so called chick flicks.

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One instance was that very frequently I would compose for her, from scratch, what were usually two stanzas containing four couplets. In a word a poem. Each night it was different It contained different thoughts, different patterns, and different wording. Though the characteristics of each poem were different the reasoning behind them was the same. I wrote these simply because I could not contain what I was feeling and I wanted her to know. I was in love and romance was alive inside of me. At the time I began writing these tidbits for her, she, while committed, was not yet in love with me. The habit of writing for her carried on through the remainder of our relationship. As I became a more adept writer she began to realize the message that I was sending to her. In short through the romantic gesture of the poems she began to love me as well.

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A rather lengthy memory, that required quite a bit of shoveling through my mind, is of summer's past. We had spent the majority of our time together. We were both a part of The Oregon Crusaders, a drum corps, competing while traveling on a bus through the Midwest. We were to take part in two separate tours. During a camp, prior to leaving on the first tour, I had to leave quite abruptly to go home resulting in me missing all of first tour. I knew that she would be quite upset at this and I began to fret endlessly. I didn't want her to be mad at me for leaving and I did not know how to remedy, or at least patch, the eventual sadness and denial that was soon to come. It was then that the idea to leave her a couple of items.

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The first, was a note explaining where I was going and why. The note also contained a three stanza poem which, while showing I loved her, told her that I was going to miss and think about her constantly. The second item that I gave her was my blanket that I planned on using while on the bus. Why give her this blanket? This blanket had, what you could call, a history between us. The first time I met her was in my senior year on a band trip to Grants Pass, Oregon. We were, which is coincidentally ironic, on a bus. She was a Junior and I had chatted with her briefly and thought she was rather attractive and interesting. I decided that I would give her my blanket to borrow as means of trying to impress her. I believe this caused her to like the blanket evermore and thought that leaving it with her would not only make her that much more comfortable but it would be a constant reminder of me while we were apart.

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The entire time apart we missed one another. She would call every night and we would talk for an hour about how our days went. At that time, upon turning 18 I must state for the irony, my family was evicted. As a result we were homeless. I spent but one night in the car shop that we owned for she would not stop worrying about my welfare and convinced me to, for the time being as upon returning from the summer I was back in the car shop, move into her family's house until the second tour arrived. The worry for me was quite affecting and made me fall all the more in love with her. The act of her calling me every night while she was away was profound as well. We would talk about the silliest of things, paper bags, normal things, our day, and downright strange things, the foot and a half orange afro I had spotted in the wild.

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Earlier I mentioned that I see many couples on my route to and from school. I stated that I see couples from which romance and love is vibrant but I did not give you an example of that. It struck me as contradicting to do as such and I started to scrutinize recollections. A memory appeared I was again riding the max when I happened to glance at a couple. This time however they seemed to be in their own world. I watched them and began to smile. It brings me happiness to see people like them so happy. At one point he pulled from his pocket two candy bars. She smiled with happiness and eagerly grabbed one of the chocolate bars. I assume that these candy bars as as the blanket was t Cassie and me. It was a special meaning to them, something that started out as a simple thing and grew into a significant romantic gesture.

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No why do I tell you these stories? Why do I share the insight I have gathered? Why do I feel the need to write out these arduous words? Because romance is at it's finest a around you. What you must know is where to look to find it. Many examples of romance exist in the world today. You just need to know where to look for it. Next time you're sitting in a coffee shop busily typing away your paper for your writing class glance up at the couple with the intense stare. Next time you're in transit to where ever try and find that couple that's holding hands, talking about the most random of things, and laughing. In these places you will find love. Look for these signs and you will find romance.