adjective

       • having no material existence; theoretical; (art) non-representational.

noun

       •(writing, speech) a summary or condensed version

transitive verb

       • to remove or extract; to separate; to summarize.

Connor grows up cared for by a family who'd never hesitate to give him all he'll ever need in life. His parents are warm and affectionate from the moment he's born, wishing him greatness and fulfilled dreams before he even has any to wish for himself. His siblings are proud and supportive, holding his hand everywhere they go and telling everyone they know that this is their brother, their best friend, the person they look up to sometimes even more than the ones who brought them into this world.

He grows up learning love is the intangible made tangible, a theory made fact, something that transcends words and the synchronized beating of caring hearts but still echoes in every aspect of an action. He grows up learning love is something he cannot hold in the palms of his hands but can feel in the brush of his fingertips.

Connor grows up learning love is something abstract and ideal, something everyone in the whole world knows as surely as they know their own name. He'll think this right up until he's twenty and green eyes meet blue for the first time of many.