The love story that broke my heart is that of Forrest Gump. His was pure simple true love. In his philosophy that: ‘Life is like a box of chocolates…you don’t know what you’re gonna get’, it means that the love you have is not about what you are getting but who you are giving it to. When you get the coconut candy (which everyone wants to put back in the box), you take it, eat it and try to like it.

Forrest may have been an idiot-savant but his being low IQ is misunderstood because his wisdom is not of this world. He was gifted with a heart of pure agape love which he gave to his one-time-all-time greatest love, Jenny. Although Jenny came to him with a broken spirit and a ruined body (sick with something we all suspect as HIV), he loved her the way she was. Cared for her, nurtured her, accepted her 100%, buried her with honor at the top of a hill.

The love story is about pure, simple love -- and this is really how love should be! Anyone can love anyone. True love is rare now. Harder even when we are all wired to something other than our soul. Pure love like that of a child, like a pet for his master, doesn’t ask to be loved in return, doesn’t underline defects; it’s just there, all the time.

The more important reason why I like the love story of Forrest for Jenny is that it reminds me of how God loves us. We all who are ruined and a big ugly, sinful mess at life -- He takes us, loves us, as His own children through His Son, Jesus Christ. There can be no purer love than this -- but Forrest’s comes close to it.” -Nancy Reyes Lumen, author of “The Adobo Book”

“‘Summer of My German Soldier’ by Bette Greene. It tells the story of Patty Bergen, a 12-year-old Jewish girl in Arkansas who harbors Anton, a WWII German POW, who is brought to her small town on a train along with other German POWs. Anton escapes the prisoners' camp and Patty keeps him hidden in her family's attic, bringing him food and clothes. They become really good friends--I think her first or only real friend, a person who really saw her and got her. Because nobody in their small town seemed to get Patty, not even her family. She was a very introspective girl, a dreamer. She never imagined that what she was looking for she would find in someone who was supposed to be the enemy. Anton was kind, gentle, intelligent, funny and protective of Patty. In other words, the Dream Man. Patty has a stormy relationship with her father, who beats her, and at one point Anton is almost caught because he tries to protect Patty. Or was he caught because of that? I don't remember anymore -- I was about 13 or 14 when I read it and it just slayed me so completely. I was afraid I would never recover. I felt a huge hole was blown in my heart or somewhere vital in me. I think it's still the most painful book I've ever read, which is probably why I haven't reread it. Thanks for reminding me with this question. Now I'll have to reread it and let it rip all over again.” -Tweet Sering, author of “Wander Girl” and “Astigirl”

“Elizabeth Wakefield and Todd Wilkins (Sweet Valley High #23, "Say Goodbye"). Why did he have to move to Vermont, why? It was the heartbreak of my teen years. Right now I'm reading ‘The Fault in Our Stars’ though, and Gus and Hazel just might get the title of all-time heartbreak. “ -Mina Esguerra, author of “Fairy Tale Fail”

“Time Traveller's Wife’! I still need therapy. I wonder if I can get Audrey Niffenegger to foot the bill?” -Samantha Sotto, author of “Before Ever After”

“The love story that broke my heart was something I wrote myself: my 9/11 love story ('Wavering') about a woman in a tower of WTC, her lover down below. And other people tell me it also makes THEM cry.” -Marianne Villanueva, author of “A Lost Language”

“The love story that broke my heart would have to be the one between Katniss and Peeta. Peeta loved her from the very beginning, no matter her flaws. Even when she was suffering through PTSD he continued to love her. All the way to the end of the ‘Hunger Games’ series, their love story is a bittersweet one. Just thinking about it makes me tear up.” -Kate Evangelista, author of “Taste” and “Reaping Me Softly”

“Corny but Romeo and Juliet. Probably because true love must have a happy ending, according to my adolescent mind. Still haven't grown up, have I?” -Mickey Fenix, author of “Savor the Word” and editor of “Kulinarya”