Virginia is for Lovers

I just love how each state has a "slogan" or a "saying" that I'm guessing is supposed to embody everything that the people who reside there appreciate about that state. I've always wondered who had the balls to come up with this concept of branding, and whether or not these sayings have any true meaning in the lives of the people who grew up there. I've lived the majority of my life in Virginia, where the saying is "Virginia is for Lovers." As a little girl growing up here I never really thought about it. Now, however, as a young, soon-to-be divorcee,this saying puts a lot of pressure on a girl. It's so exclusive and exact; "Virginia is for Lovers," in other words, non-lovers keep out. In fact that's exactly how I felt upon returning home. If Virginia is for lovers then what the hell am I doing here? I came here back in the early spring to marry a man that I was no longer in love with. How did you allow this to happen Virginia? Shouldn't there be some sort of checklist, or a "Virginia is for Lovers" handbook that specifies the rules for couples who wish to marry and/or start a life here?; a checkpoint at the Virginia State line where the love doctor checks your pulse to measure how fast your heart is racing when the two of you kiss. Okay, maybe I've been watching too many Meg Ryan movies, but the point is, ever since I've been here, I have been totally consumed with the idea of what it means to truly love someone and be in love. I observe couples all the time. I watch their movements, their body language, the way they look at each other. I listen to the way they speak to each other. I have spent the last two and a half months here looking for proof of this place for lovers. While I'm not sure that every person here subscribes to this notion, or has even given it a second thought, the one thing I am sure of is that I refuse to become a cynical, bitter, divorced woman, who doesn't believe in true love.

Sincere Lee

"There are all kinds of love in the world, but never the same love twice"-F. Scott Fitzgerald