The Misconceptions of Love

By L. W. Antoine

Al is a young man who, despite his spiritually structured upbringing and his written examples of the perfect existence, experienced an unorthodox and provisional life before settling into unwavering permanence.
In a true chronicling of Al’s experiences, L. W. Antoine shines a light on Al’s journey through a twisted pattern of unstable relationships to a place of steadfastness. In his younger years, Al’s mission was to spread love. Yet the way he mismanaged his understanding of love contradicted the purpose of his mission, causing him to digress irresponsibly before deciding to return home like the prodigal son. But it was not until he came to terms with reality and became determined not to repeat history that Al was finally able to rekindle a relationship with his first love, solidifying his stance on what he always believed love should be. Through the candid retelling of Al’s story and his pursuit of happiness, others will gain a better understanding of love while avoiding the valley of misconceptions.
The Misconceptions of Love is a powerful memoir that tells the story of a man determined to invalidate fallacies, live a fulfilling life, and find true love

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Feb 3, 2021
• ISBN: 9781665701525

L. W. Antoine

L. W. Antoine traveled from the sandy shores of the Caribbean to the open borders of the United States with the dream of becoming a writer. Although he spent most of his years working unrelated roles, he never lost sight of his vision. In his first book, he brings to light a topic ignored by few and forgotten by many: the way love is repeatedly misconceived by society.

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Copyright © 2021 L. W. Antoine.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means,

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author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author

and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of

the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of

people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

Archway Publishing

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Interior Image Credit: L. W. Antoine

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

ISBN: 978-1-6657-0151-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6657-0152-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021900601

Archway Publishing rev. date: 02/02/2021

Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Part 1: Al’s Bio and Insightful Concepts of Love

Chapter 1     Traits of the Character

Chapter 2     Philosophical Outlook

Chapter 3     False Prophecies

Chapter 4     Love and Family

Part 2: The Beginning of Al’s Journey

Chapter 5     In Pursuit of Happiness

Chapter 6     Integrating the Racial Divide

Chapter 7     Crossing Cultural Boundaries

Chapter 8     The Wake-Up Call

Chapter 9     Reliving the Dream

Chapter 10   A Wedding to Remember

Chapter 11   The Perfect Marriage

Chapter 12   Final Thoughts

About the Author

Foreword

The journey you are about to embark on while reading this story is far from fictitious. No one is exempt from experiencing the everyday occurrences of what is being talked about. Having endured some of these volatile situations myself, I was able to fully relate to its realism. It is safe to say that unless you live in a fantasy land with a bizarre imagination, this book is for people like you and me.

Living in a world where spirituality should be synonymous with love, the opposing forces of race and culture make it almost difficult to achieve synchronicity. Therefore, it is virtually impossible not to get trapped within the flames of misconception. Inevitably when this happens and you find yourself trapped with your back against the wall, you are left with two choices. Either you stand up and defend love, or you run as fast as you can to avoid being engulfed by the flames.

The concept of misconceptions is meticulously portrayed by the author to create a lucid understanding of the imminent failures that can occur when iniquity clashes with morality. We, as a whole, can do better with love and its misconceptions. I believe this should begin in the home where unconditional love is taught and the charity behind it can evolve. Remember, love has created a world of positive conceptions, so if it is taught right, learned right, and practiced right, there should be no need for a clashing universe destined for the infinite dissemination of love.

—Juliet O. Obi

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Juliet O. Obi and Cami A. Antoine for their contributions to the story.

Introduction

This is the story about a young man named Al, who, despite his spiritually structured upbringing and his written examples of living the perfect life, lived quite an unorthodox and provisional lifestyle before settling into a life of unwavering permanence. During the early chapter of his life, his mission was to spread love. On the contrary, throughout his transformational cycle, the way he mismanaged his understanding of love contradicted what his mission was all about. He digressed irresponsibly and found himself tied into a web of transgressions, wasting many years of his life before deciding to return home like the prodigal son.

It was during the latter aspect of his carefree lifestyle and all his superfluous shenanigans when he came to terms with reality, taking all the precautionary measures not to repeat history. Interestingly, it may have taken the same steadfast and resolute attitude from his first love with whom he rekindled to solidify his stronghold on what he believed love should be.

The chronology of the story follows a twisted pattern of unstable relationships to one of steadfastness. It begins the way he fundamentally aimed at directly influencing lives on a global scale, to the way he strayed into a trend of inconsistent encounters. The saga also fixates on his immoral sins, exposing his many failed attempts in trying to find true love, using his own dubious methodology. Misled by his own cognitive dissonance and his resounding guilt, he was taunted by his conscience so gravely that it awakened his enlightened morality. Eventually, he scored his point quite masterfully, amid instability and corruption, in a society where male dominance exerted itself precariously on vulnerability.

His story will rouse your moral intellect, helping you to have a better understanding of love, while at the same time hoping you don’t get ensnared along the negative trails and find yourself sinking deeper into the valley of misconceptions.

Al’s Bio and

Insightful Concepts

of Love

Chapter One

Traits of the Character

The second of five children, Al grew up in a very small but close-knit community where everyone knew each other. He was considered a leading example by many, especially his family. As an honor student who always maintained a very high grade point average, his parents rewarded him quite frequently for his hard work and dedication. He was a young man with a big heart, always there to help his mother in everything she did, from house chores, to gardening, and even grocery shopping. He never fell short of doing what was expected of him, including picking up some responsibilities that his siblings sometimes shied away from.

According to his parents, he was like an emblem of pure love and a son to be proud of. They made sure they instilled in him not just the value of a good education but the importance of making God an integral part of family life. As a rule, he visited church every Sunday with family and was sure to keep the Bible very close as his ultimate reference for spiritual guidance. He may not have been as popular as some of his friends in the community, but he had a good amount of street smarts and was privy to all that was going on in and around his neighborhood. Whatever the breaking news, his antenna was always in tune to intercept every bit of it. Although he was deemed nerdy and somewhat eccentric by his peers, he was well respected by his family for being a highly gifted young man with a penchant for education.

Though not perfect, Al strived daily to be the best he could be, but he was only human, so enough margin was left for errors and imperfections. He sinned, was out of line at times, and made mistakes like every normal child. He had his bad days where his behavior was not always on par, but for the most part he was the son every mom wished she had. When he disobeyed, he paid the price like everyone else by being duly reprimanded and punished for his wrongdoings. Al was a walking example of the Good Samaritan mentioned in the book of Luke. He would give you the shirt off his back to keep you warm, offer you his last meal to save your life, and take you in and treat you like you were family. No good deed was ever too much for him to render.

His actions couldn’t have been misconstrued unless they were fueled by pure hatred. That type of hatred would keep coming regardless of his action or reaction, and as if that wasn’t bad enough, he also had to put up with society’s bullying tactics. Sometimes, it didn’t matter how good his acts of kindness were, for some he just couldn’t do anything right. Despite their bitterness toward him, he continued paying it forward because he thought that one day it would come back as a blessing to him. He never allowed those jealous goons of society, who thought they had control over him, to hamper his lifestyle. Bravery and forbearance characterized him best, and he had the wits to handle all their ironical expressions.

In spite of all the negativity he endured, he remained focused and never allowed society’s imbalance to throw him off. Infrequently, he would confront circumstances where he would utilize his unorthodox style of self-defense to protect himself, and he did so quite adeptly. His unassuming innocence was never to be mistaken for naivety, nor was his respectability to be taken for granted. As a highly respectable young man with great mental and physical strength plus the ability to stand up to his counterparts, he learned to defend himself quite well. His motto, Do not ever wake a sleeping dog out of his sleep, was sometimes ignored, but whoever was responsible for it got a good taste of their own reality.

After a few real-life encounters, everyone in his vicinity knew exactly who they were dealing with and knew not to ever dare cross where the boundary line was drawn. He was definitely a force to be reckoned with, but the mama’s boy as he was aptly labeled by his peers, was maturing quite rapidly into adulthood and was always preoccupied with the notion that one day this place called home would soon become history. In the meantime, Al spent his days ensuring his family’s happiness and safety while interacting sporadically with friends. As far as his downtime was concerned, he utilized every opportunity he had to not get trapped into boredom or allow his free time to go to waste. He took advantage of his close proximity to the oceanfront to sometimes kick back in his rocking