Before a child understands the concept of ”color”, explaining to them what “red” is is not possible. You must, instead, show them what red is. We simply lack the words to describe color. We can list things that are red. We can talk about feelings and ideas that share the essence of the color red. We can talk about what the color red means to us. But in the end, without seeing it, you simply can’t understand it.
This is also true for love. There comes a point in almost every child’s life when girls or boys take on a role of importance that is of a different quality than anything else in their life. If you happen to be one of the first children in a group to experience this, you’re often met with the jeers and taunts of other children who don’t quite understand what you’re feeling. Like color, love — real love — is not something you can explain. You can list the things you love. You can talk about the way love makes you feel. You can talk about the things you would do for love. But, in the end, explaining love to someone who has not felt it is simply not possible.
But, like love, there are many different colors. Understanding what “red” is does not bring a person any closer to understanding “green” or “yellow” or “black”. Each color must be witnessed on it’s own to be fully understood. After some time, we can start to understand different shades of a color without having a direct reference. Having witnessed “red” and “white” brings us closer to understanding “pink” without having seen it, but we’d still only be making an educated guess.
The love one feels for their child is a color all its own. It shares some qualities with other colors and loves and understanding them can bring you some sort of approximation, but it will never bring you understanding. Though you may live a full life filled with love and color, once the color brought by a child is part of your box of crayons, any drawing without it stands out. Like the noontime summer sky, not using the color blue would be intentional and noticed by all who viewed it. Therefore, even in its absence, the color blue has a presence. Like other kinds of love, the love one feels for their child colors many aspects of life. Once introduced, its presence is cherished and sought after and its absence never goes unnoticed.