let me tell you a story.

once upon a time, there lived a little boy and his mother. everyday, the little boy would ask his mother,
"mommy, will you always love me?"
as you see, the little boy was insecure and very needy. he needed love, and he needed to be reassured that he had it constantly. and every time the boy asked, his mother would always reply,
"yes, dear. i love you, and i always will."
then one day, the little boy and his mother were out for a drive. the little boy asked his mother, yet again,
"mommy, will you always love me?"
his mother, eyes on the road ahead, once again replied,
"yes, dear. i love you, and i always will."
the boy seemed to consider her response carefully this time; he thought about it for a moment or two and then asked another question:
"mommy, would you still love me if i murdered someone?"
his mother, somewhat startled, glanced over at her son. his eyes shone up to hers, geninuly curious and full of neediness. she sighed and dragged her eyes back to the road. silence filled the car and a few beats later the mother spoke.
"honey, i would hate what you did. i would cry and cry and cry. i would testify in any and every U.S. court to make sure you got the punishment you deserved. but i would never, ever, stop loving you."
the little boy turned away from her, and he too turned his eyes onto the road ahead. his mind whirled with questions, and he spoke the most important one aloud:
"why?"
his mother turned back to him once again, her shining eyes filled with compassion.
"because," she said simply,
"i just would. i love you, and i always will."

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the mother in the story above told her son that she loved him and that she always would. her son didn't understand this, so he asked her if she would still love him even when he did something bad. when she said she would, he still didn't understand; how can you still love someone even if they do something bad? what the little boy in the story didn't understand was that his mother loved him unconditionally - she showed him unconditional love.

unconditional love is when you love someone without any conditions - when you love them no matter what. when you love them despite their flaws. when you love them even if they've messed up.

to me, unconditional love is what we should mean when we say the word love - loving someone no matter what their flaws, issues, or whatever they may have done in their lives. unconditional love is loving someone, always.

you may not think that unconditional love is real - i mean, how can you love someone despite the fact that they've done something terrible? but like my stepmom shari told her son aaron many, many years ago,
"because, i just would. i love you, and i always will."

sometimes, 'because' is the best explanation you can give.