TT wrote:
"We are taught that we cannot know love until we reach a certain age of understanding."

I realise that I am probably nit-picking here, but I must take issue with this statement. Anyone who has experienced the interaction of children and those who are caring for them will know that love is powerfully there on both sides from the beginning.

Perhaps you mean sexual love. That must wait for maturity-- but to assume that the ability for us to experience and return love is not innate, even instinctive, is to deny the best of our humanity.