Valentine’s Day is upon us. We can practically smell the roses and overpriced chocolates (or cheap wine and pizza, if you’re in college). Valentine’s Day wouldn’t be Valentine’s Day without, you guessed it, love. Everyone has a different definition of love, but it’s a basic human yearning that we all have. We asked 28 people a simple question: What is love to you? Here are their responses to this basic, yet complicated question. Some of them funny, some serious, but all sincere.

1. “Love to me is being sincere in your actions. Romans 12:9 says, “love must be sincere,” and that really stands out to me. Love is an action, not just an emotion. To be sincere in love is to always show the other person you love them. Grace, respect and a serving heart is key. Love is putting someone else’s feelings above your own and not looking for something in return.” - Caiti Rodriguez, 25

2. “Love is caring about others’ needs above your own (or equally to your own). Also, not judging and being comfortable around each other at all times.” - Meagan Pickens, 22

3. “Always trusting and caring for someone without having to think about it.” - Andrew Staton, 21

4. “Love is when God gave His only son, Jesus Christ, to be crucified on an old rugged cross for our sins, so that we will not have to perish in the pit of hell but have an everlasting life in Heaven when we die; as long as we accept Him as our Lord and Savior, and ask Him to come into our hearts and forgive us of our sins. This is love to me.” - Amy Edwards, 51

5. “Love is comfort. It's feeling completely at peace and safe in someone's presence. It's knowing anything could happen to you at a certain moment and it would be okay. I have only found this in 2 people, and it's the greatest feeling.” - Kirstin McWaters, 21

6. “Love is intoxicating. Love is all-consuming of the mind. Love is never wanting to be anywhere or with anyone else but that one person. Love is selfless. Love is always wanting to make that person happy and to see them smile at you like you are the only person on earth. Love is feeling safe with that person, meaning that you can accomplish anything with their love and support. Love is being quick to forgive and quick to ask for forgiveness.” - Jennifer Rodriguez, 56

7. “Love is when you truly want the best for someone and want to help them in any way you can. It covers all bases. Family, friend, romantic and religious love.” - Omar Valencia, 21

8. “To me, there are 2 types of love. Love that is positively life changing — it builds you up and teaches you so much about the world and yourself. This is the one I think everyone hears about/wants to be a part of. Then there’s the love that is world-shattering and all-consuming. It sneaks up on you [but] you ignore it until it’s too late, and then it tears down your walls and leaves you raw. I think the second one is the worst of the 3 because after you feel it, you’re never quite the same as before and it leaves you so lost that it’s almost impossible to find your way back.” - Adriana Carroll Magalhães, 21

9. “Love is horrible. Love is waiting [for] your heart to break because you know eventually it will.” - Mary Simpson, 32

10. “Lulu, Jesus and our night-night kisses mean love.” - Tanner Bryant, 5

11. “I think that, to me, the most defining trait of love is respect. You can't love someone without respecting them. It's what teaches you the difference between sacrifice and compromise, what teaches you which one is fair to expect. And it's not just about respecting the other but respecting yourself too — by knowing to recognize that your feelings are valid, that love isn't just taking but it's also not just giving.” - Luiza, 23

12. “Love is knowing you still love someone despite their flaws, whether it’s not flushing the toilet or, um, being a complete ass.” - Noel Anderson, 21

13. “Love is patience and trust. It’s being apart, yet still knowing you belong to one another. It’s also simultaneously terrifying and exhilarating. It’s tears and laughs and endless smiles. Love can also be the smell of homemade mac & cheese in a house full of people who have loved you since your first breath. It can be sliding down a hill on a cheap sled when you’re 20 years old with your 25-year-old sister -[while] laughing until tears roll down your face. And still it can be puppy kisses from your 70 pound Pit Bull and your mom playing with your hair and your dad singing off-key to “Stand By Me.” It’s everything that fills you up with joy and hope.” - Brianna Rodriguez, 21

14. “Love is carbs, cats, dogs, rainy days with nothing to do, blankets and God.” - Abby Sherlock, 19

15. “Love to me isn’t what Hollywood chalks it up to be. It’s not first kisses under fireworks or long kisses in the rain (why has that ever been considered romantic in the first place? It’s wet, cold, your clothes stick to you… but now I’m sidetracked). Love to me isn’t complete surrender of yourself to another one. True love is seeing the best parts of yourself amplified by another. Falling in love with [Caiti] was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before in my life. She made me not want to be better; there was no other option, I was going to be the best man she’d ever seen. Love gives you the courage to be better - to stop worrying about what others think of you because you see all you need in that person’s eyes. The love I feel for her has pushed me to places I never thought I could be. Love righted my moral and spiritual compass. Love is about being brave and putting everything you have, good and bad, out in the world for one person to see and knowing, 100%, they have your back.” - Ben Miller, 29

16. “Love is vulnerability, selflessness and patience. Love is to be consumed with someone's soul. Love is also pain because once you love someone that feeling will never die.” - Hannah Edwards, 22

17. “Love is the perfect exchange of communication between two individuals that care about each other.” - Ezequiel Morales

18. “Love is giving trust to another person. Looking forward to telling them every little thing that happened today and wanting to hear about their day. Love is doing little things for someone to brighten their day because you want life to be easy on them. Love is wanting to go to bed holding them and wake up in the same position. Love is believing in someone and knowing they can accomplish anything they put their mind to, even if they don't know it yet. Love is knowing you are their world and they are yours.” - Maddie Latham, 20

19. “People that don’t judge you in spite of your questionable decisions but hug you despite them.” - Tyler Herzong, 21

20. “To me, love is a feeling of deep affection. Being attached to someone despite their flaws and imperfections. Love makes you feel safe and gives you a feeling of security, knowing that you always have someone to count on. Whether it’s your significant other or your mom, love makes you feel bubbly and good.” - Lexi Wilkins, 21

21. “For me, true love means caring for someone as much as I care for myself. Not more than myself and not any less because together you bring out each other’s strengths and best selves.” - Madison Corri, 23

22. “Love is an uncontrollable emotion. Love is not easy, but love with the right person makes life easier. Knowing you have someone that is always there for you just as you are for them creates a happiness within that is indescribable.” - Drew Long, 21

23. “After being in a relationship with the same person for 5 years, my definition of love has changed many times with each new stage of our relationship. In the beginning, love was cute and full of mystery. Love also meant that I had to be on my best behavior around him because you cannot let your newfound love see the bad, sad or any part of your life that is not cute and appealing. My definition of love started out as nothing more than someone making me smile and feel special, but it soon transformed as I realized that love is also about someone taking care of you in your time of need whether it be through the death of a friend or something as simple as an argument with your parents. With each new stage of our relationship, new love has formed. Now, love is so much more because it is also arguing over what chips to buy at the grocery store, waking up early in the morning on your day off just because your significant other does not want to be get ready alone (which can also be very obnoxious) and even them helping you walk upstairs because mono has weakened you to that point. Sometimes love is talking to your boyfriend from the living room while he is using the bathroom with the door open because that’s all the time you get to spend together that day other than sleeping side-by-side. The sparkle of new love may be gone now but that is the best part because now it is replaced with a lot of inside jokes, laughing together about things that no one else would find funny and having a favorite restaurant that you go to at least every other week. Love is all about growing together, learning new things about each other, compromising so that you are both happy and supporting each other through everything that life brings.” - Kimberly Williams, 21

24. “Nothing.” - Zach Chamard, 22

25. “Love is friendship that has caught fire. It is quiet understanding, shamelessly adoring one another and sharing and forgiving. It is loyalty through good and bad times. It settles for less than perfection and makes allowances for human weakness.” - Anonymous

26. “It’s like coming home after a long trip. That’s what love is like. It’s like coming home.” - Sarah Vance, 20

27. “I believe that love abides in all animals. But in humans, love is more addictive than any drug ever created. If you have never had love, you want it. If you have had love and lost it, you want it back. If you are evil, love can make you do good things. If you are good, love can make you do evil things. The desire for love formed the world’s oldest profession. The expression of love has created more art and literature than any subject in any language in any era of human development. Love is vindication for the greatest sacrifice in the history of mankind. Love defines us more than any part of our body or mind.” - Armando Rodriguez, 73

28. “When I was younger, love didn’t exist. I believed it was fake. What more could you do with someone once you love them? Love is the end, right? There are steps: you have a crush on someone, you like someone, then you love someone. I used to believe that love was just a thing people said because they didn’t know what else to say, but my views have changed. Romantic love is not a pretty thing; it’s waking up in the middle of the night crying because I miss someone so much. It’s remembering the one I lost because I didn’t tell him I loved him soon enough. But platonic love is different. It’s hugging my best friend when she’s had a bad day or when she’s scared. It’s going home to see my mom and dad after 3 months have passed without seeing them. It’s reading “Where The Heart Is,” singing off-tune to pop songs during road trips, and eating pasta. (Lots of pasta.) It’s FaceTiming with my precious nephew who’s counting down the days until I come home. Love is everywhere; you just have to know where to look for it.” - Krissy Simpson, 22