Cupid carries three arrows. One for romantic love, the second for platonic love and the third one for self-love. He carries them with him everywhere he goes. Looking and scouting to release them.
In 1970, Jill Maguire met 18-year-old Steve Leblanc.
“He asked me to marry him when I was finishing Grade 11, but my parents didn’t let me wear the ring until I was in Grade 12,” said Maguire.
However, because of their five-year age gap, Maguire’s parents tried everything to stop them from being together.
“I used to get caught with him all the time; I used to get grounded all the time. We fought for it,” said Maguire.
They laughed with each other, remembering the old times.
Finishing Grade 12 in June of 75’, Maguire married LeBlanc a month after her graduation.
“When you love somebody, you just want to be with them all the time,” said LeBlanc.
Going on 50 years of marriage in July, they said they have learned to value personal space and respect each other’s time with friends.
Now with kids and grandchildren, the LeBlancs drink their coffee together most mornings.
Cupid started to look for a strong friendship bond and spotted the right duo.
Grace Cunningham and Cameron Rouse, third-year students at St. Thomas University, always crossed paths at a coffee shop in St. Andrews but didn’t meet until their first year at university.
“The more we found out we had kind of run into each other in different ways, [we knew] that the universe was telling us we needed each other,” said Cunningham. “All the threads came together.”
From 48-hour women’s retreats to having a secret language, Cunningham and Rouse grew closer than ever as they opened themselves to each other about their past and identities.
“We were both working through things around the same time and it felt incredibly natural to share the load with her. I never doubted that she would be anywhere or leave me behind,” said Rouse.
With a single arrow left, Cupid continues to soar with his wings. But self-love is different.
Joanna Price, an employee at St. Thomas University’s meal hall, shared her definition of love with her upbeat spirit and wide smile.
“Love is a verb. It’s a choice, it’s an action word,” she said.
Price said she struggled to come to terms with self-love and self-care. According to Price, despite the circumstances people may find themselves in, what they share with the world is what truly matters.
“If someone were to ask me what my purpose in life was, I’d say it’s to spread joy. We have a choice in what we put out in the world and I was born to put out joy.”
“It’s taken me 60 years to figure that out,” said Price.
According to Price, everyone should love themselves before they can love others to build a relationship that can be equally fulfilling to the other person.
Even though we have grown up in a society where the rule is always to love others, no matter what, Price thinks this is not always the case.
“I don’t remember in the bible where it says ‘love others at the total expense of yourself all the time,’” she said.
“What goes out always comes back.”
Dedication to Amara Sacobie with love.
