To make love grow It took me years to learn that the love surrounding our family didn’t just happen . We had to learn about love from one another . In fact , love never just happens . But there is , I think , a climate that is best for love---a way of living that hastens the maturity of this matchless gift . First , love needs time . Perhaps people can fall in love in a moment , but mature love is like a tree , moving slowly from the seed in the ground to the sheltering splendor of its prime . People need time to deepen their affection , to appreciate one another’s differences , to share one another’s joy and grief……To grow , love needs another , more elusive quality------the ability to let go . Finally , love needs words to make it real . Without words , quarrels can’t be resolved , resentment can’t come to the surface , and we lose the power to share the meaning of our lives . There are many ways of communicating . The important thing is to acknowledge and express our feelings . Love is not a single act , but a climate in which we live , a lifetime venture in which we are always learning , discovering and growing . It is not destroyed by a single failure , or won by a single caress . Love is a climate---a climate of the heart ！