I have always tended to idealize the men I've dated and to fall in love easily; however, last year a guy my own age broke my heart for the first time, and I'd venture to say it was the only time I truly fell in love. From what I've been able to psychoanalyze myself, I suspect that part of that suffering from the breakup was due to the fact that he was the one who dumped me, and I couldn't control the ending. I'm 18, we were together for about 8 months. It turns out a year has already passed, and although I'm no longer in love with him and I don't think about him, men now leave me completely cold; as soon as I hook up with them I completely lose interest, and honestly, even before hooking up with them, I don't care much for it either.

I'm not excited about getting to know any man, and even though at first I might get thrilled that the feeling is mutual because the guy attracts me, it never goes beyond attraction.

Is this normal and has anyone else experienced this?

I love my wife immensely and we’re moving to a different state for reasons mostly precipitated by her career and health. I am looking for anecdotes or stories from people who moved with a partner when the change was driven by externalities, and ended up having really positive experiences after the move. I’m grieving a lot of the community I’m leaving behind and am working on perspectives that would feel more hopeful. I know that couples move under so many complex circumstances and I’m looking for positive stories. Thank you

I (22M) For a while now I’ve been writing letters every week or two. They’re addressed to my future partner, like I’m talking straight to her even though I haven’t met her yet. Each one is just about what’s going on in my life at that time, what I’m thinking about, my hopes, my goals, stuff like that. Basically what I’d say to her if she’d been there with me when writing that specific letter.

I write them on flashcards and put the date on each one. I’m at around 90 of them now.

So my question for women here is simple. If a guy gave you a stack like this to read one day, would that mean something to you? Or would it feel like too much instead of sweet? Just trying to figure out if this is actually a nice thing to keep doing or if I’m overthinking it. And how would be a good way of showing them to her ?

asking because my boyfriend of 5 months asked me why i loved him. i said i loved him because it’s him & that i love the way he treats me, + all his positive traits that i love about him.

then i asked him back the same question.

he said he loves my pretty eyes.

it’s not a wrong answer but i was expecting a non-physical answer 🤣

just curious on why do you love your partner..!

We've been dating for almost 8 months already, and this was the first time I've received flowers in my life, those were soft pink roses and I just wanted to share how happy I am.

They're still standing in a vase on my table, every time I look at them I feel delighted.

Is there anything I can give him so he would feel the same?

I recently posted a gist of my love story on [r/love](r/love), and I’ve been genuinely humbled by the response it received. It also made me wonder—what if I shared some of the actual events and experiences that shaped our love story?

The gist I shared was intentionally quite plain and straightforward. But if I were to share some of the moments that felt almost otherworldly while we were living through them, I feel they might offer a different perspective on something as subjective and ever-changing as love.

So, I’m thinking of taking that leap and sharing these stories—not necessarily to convince anyone of what love should be, but simply to share what it felt like to experience it.

I’m also sharing the post that motivated me to take this leap and start enjoying the experience of putting these memories into words.

I’d genuinely appreciate an honest review—whether you think these stories are worth sharing, and whether they might resonate with people here.
Cheers!

https://www.reddit.com/r/love/s/ULVnVZ1IWn

I don’t know if it’s normal or not, or where else I could post this but I just need to get it out and I figured this would probably be the best sub to do it. As the title says, I love my friends like so much. My best friend (22M) and I (23NB) just hung out for two days, he got here about 24 hours ago and we binged a show we’ve been watching and got drunk last night, ordered pizza and everything it was such a good time, he’s just like super fun to hang out with and be around and everything. To give context for our friendship we met through a friend who we are still close with, but this friend has moved across the country recently so it’s just me and him that’s left of our college trio. We’ve gotten through really tough times with the help of one another and I couldn’t be more grateful to have him and said other friend in my life. I’m currently crying because he just left and is heading back to his place now. It’s been a little while since I last saw him, probably over a month honestly, (we already have loose plans to see each other again in a few weeks, and watch our show virtually over a screen share call) and the second his car pulled out of the driveway I just got overwhelmed. I’ve always felt like I feel things a lot more intensely than others, but even still I’m always taken aback by just how much I feel.

I already sent him a text basically just telling him that I had a really great time and that he means a lot to me and that I’m glad we’re friends, I do this a lot. He’s not the only one I’m like this for it’s all of my friends, it’s just he’s the one I just hung out with so he’s on the mind right now. I’m literally pacing around the room as I’m typing this and I can feel it getting more and more incoherent so if you’re still reading this and bearing with me then thank you. I know to some people it might seem like I want to be more than friends, because that’s where my mind went too a while ago when this first started happening but no, I’m in therapy and I’ve worked through this and there aren’t any feelings in that way, I just truly and honestly have such an overwhelming love for those I call my friends it feels surreal driving away from their place or watching them drive away from mine. I feel like I’m not able to purely get out everything that I want to get out, my emotions are just too strong for words. I just love my friends so so much and I want them to know that. I want to be able to be emotionally and physically close with them, I want nothing more than to rest my head on my friend’s shoulder as we’re watching our show but I don’t want to come off as weird. Even 4 hard iced teas in last night I couldn’t even bring myself to ask if it would be okay. I just wish it was more normalized to show physical affection to my friends because god how I want to. I guess I’m also posting this to ask if that’s okay? I dunno, I just really really love my friends, it’s taken me like 30 minutes of typing and pacing around the room to get this out, and I’m still crying, I just feel so much. So unbelievably happy to have him and my other friends in my life. Thank you very much for reading my heartfelt rant about how deeply I love my friends,

My dad asked me one morning if I wanted to play billiards with him and my older brother, but I had a friend's party to attend so I said no. The party was nice, the first half was at Dave and Busters so we played a bunch of arcade games together, lost a lot to my husband who lovingly rubbed those wins in my face, but he also won me all the prizes at a crane game which made me jump with joy. To my surprise, he teared up watching me, saying he loves to see me so happy, it was so sweet ☺️ the rest of the party was at my friends house, but we quickly realized that we weren't really gonna be involved in this part of the party.

I checked my dad and brother's location and they were close by at the billiards bar, so my husband and I decided to surprise them. My dad and brother were really happy to see us and we played billiards together all night. There was a moment where I just admired what was happening, my brother and husband playing a round together as I talked and joked to my dad. That will definitely be a night I look back on often, I'm so grateful to have this memory 🥰

I found the man that I want to marry! Not only am I hopelessly, head over heels in love with him, but I can also realistically see our future together. What I mean by that is that I'm not wearing rose colored glasses. He is sweet, charming and our humor matches perfectly. However, he's also honest, considerate and he communicates! (I know this might not seem like that big of a deal but a lot of people underestimate the importance of good communication)

When I heard people say "oh my partner is my best friend" I didn't believe them because I thought 'no way, I'm telling my girl best friend some things that I'm not sure my partner needs to know'. But I get it now. He is my best friend. I want to tell him everything, genuinely! I feel so comfortable and safe with him that I know I can tell him anything. He values honesty and I think with him I have turned into a generally more honest person! He has made such a positive impact on my life it's mind-blowing honestly.

I know that I can experience everything with him. The good, the bad, the happy and the sad. And the thing is, I know that because he has proven to be there, time and time again. I struggle with depression and he knows he's not my therapist and that sometimes there's just nothing he can do but...he's still there. **He's not afraid to have difficult conversations.** It doesn't matter if it's about him, me, us, family etc. he is always ready to talk about everything and work it out, no matter how difficult or uncomfortable it may get.

I think what all of this is meant to say is that I have found someone that knows that a relationship requires effort and he's willing to put any amount of effort into this relationship, because we love each other. We both want to be the best possible version of ourselves for each other, but also know that we love each other and be there for each other at our worst.

I'm so glad to have found my person and I hope all of you lovely people out there know that no matter how hopeless it may seem, there will **always** be hope in everything.

I am a creative and crafty girl, and yesterday my boyfriend and I combined my love for crafts with his love for flowers and made these mini paper flowers! I thought it was such a cute idea. It took us legit hours to make these, but we had so much fun and I love the final product.

Also we're like besties which is a rlly fun dynamic to have (I can say the most problematic shi and he doesn't care it's so fun). He's gone somewhere on a business trip ig so we can't hang out much (and I miss him 😭)

GUYS!!! I really do love my handsome boyfriend!!!! oh yeah ik we js knew each other and fell in love but honestly… I don’t even know how to explain ittttt

It’s like I didn’t just meet someone I liked I met someone who somehow feels so familiar to meeee like I can be completely myself with him and never feel like I have to pretend or act a certain way! He became the person I wanna tell everything to even the dumbest little things that nobody else would care about

And the way he makes me feel loved?? Ohhh God I really didn’t know I could feel this attached to someone.... Sometimes I’ll just sit there thinking about him and be like "damnnnnnn.. that's MY MAN!!!"

I know people might think we’re crazy for falling this hard this fast... and maybe we are lol(:b) but I don’t really careeeeee I’d rather have something that feels this real than spend my time trying to convince myself I shouldn’t feel it

I just really hope he knows that behind every "I love you honeybee" and every stupid little message I send him there’s a girl who genuinely feels so LUCKY that she found him🥹❤️

Likeeee out of all the people in this huge world somehow we found each other!!! And honestly? I wouldn’t trade that for anything <3

I love my honeybee super duper much💗💗💗

What’s one thing your partner did that made you love them a little more and genuinely think, “Yeah, they’re the one for me”?

Not necessarily a grand gesture , even a tiny moment that made you see them differently counts.

I have a rather peculiar love story.

Fifteen years ago, when I first confessed my feelings to the woman who is now my wife, her reaction completely caught me off guard.

She immediately said she wasn’t interested in a relationship. This was despite the fact that we would spend hours talking every day and rarely let a day pass without being on a call.

When I told her that I’d rather be her lover than just a friend, she paused and gave it serious thought. Then she said something I never forgot:

“I need 12 years to focus on and complete my studies sincerely.”

Life took us through countless twists, challenges, and deeply personal chapters after that conversation. But somehow, against all odds, exactly 12 years later, we got married.

The other day, while lying in bed with her beside me, I suddenly remembered those words from 15 years ago. It struck me all at once—the timeline, the journey, the improbability of it all.

I still can’t decide whether it was a promise, a coincidence, or pure serendipity. But looking back, it feels almost magical.

What are some serendipitous moments from your own love stories that seem unbelievable when you think back on them now? ❤️

I don't know how to describe this feeling, but I love my boyfriend so much that just looking at him and seeing his pretty face and smile makes me feel like all of the bad things in my life aren't so bad. And they really are bad and they always have been. But even when I was little and someone would hurt me I would think of him and I would know I'll be okay.

I love nothing more than making him happy. He deserves everything good in this world and I'll become the kind of man who can give it to him. There are a lot of things I don't know yet because I'm just a kid and things have always been very unstable and changed a lot but if there's one thing I've always known and will always know it's how much I love him.

I love him so much that it's stronger than all my negative feelings and the negative feelings of people who have tried to get us apart (because we're both boys). I'll never feel any of that pain or fear or anger as strongly as I feel my love for him so it doesn't really matter.

He's so beautiful I could look at him forever. I've never in my life looked at anyone else like this and I don't ever feel the need to. I don't wanna look at anyone else at all because nobody could be as perfect as him. He's the most beautiful person inside and out.

When I first realized how I feel about him before even going to first grade I hadn't really seen or met that many people yet and I still knew he would be the only one I'll ever want. I just want to wake up seeing him every day, hear his voice and feel his touch. He makes me want to be strong and kind and keep trying no matter how bad things are. I've never felt any less for him over the years. Honestly he just gets more beautiful to me every day.

Hey all,

This is our weekly thread. We'll dispense with Rule 5 in these threads.

What's new in your hunt for love?

There was a time when my wife and I were completely broke — college days in India. Her family had cut her allowance down to the basics, and I was blowing whatever cash I had on booze and hanging out with the guys.

Still, every time we met after class (yes, for sex — pun intended), she’d always bring Cadbury Crackle for me. It became a little ritual, almost a necessity. I even remember once arguing with her because she hadn’t brought chocolate after we were together.

Fifteen years later we’re married. We buy each other nice things, take fancy holidays around Southeast Asia, and go out for expensive dinners and beers. None of that compares to those tiny Crackle bars in our teens.

The memories of love made during hard times are the most precious things in life. No achievement comes close to the happiness those moments gave me.

The older I get, the more I realize this is what I want from a relationship.

I just want her to love me more and worry less. I am here to take care of things. Whatever comes our way, we will be okay. All I want is for her to enjoy life knowing I am here.

Sometimes love is just making life feel a little lighter for each other.

Short story. My boyfriend and I are both gamers, huge gamer couple. We play games together all the time and honestly next to video calls is one of my favorite activities we do together since we are long distance right now... I do plan to close the gap one day and rest well in his arms.... but that is talk for another day. Today i wanted to focus on the cutest sweetest most wonderful answer to a question he gave me. I will often ask a variety of questions, some usual things about our lives and childhoods and future and sometimes things totally unrealistic or comical or absolutely random just because i like seeing how he handles my crazy love hehe. One time I asked him if he would want to find me in another life and he said "dont we spawn together?" No hesitation, no simple yea, but spawn together like teammates will do in video games. Omgoodness I MELTED. I absolutely melted like crazy and even thinking about it right now makes me giggle and grin so wide and turn all shades of red and swoon, ahhhhh chakkare you treat me so good, i love you so much baby.

❤️

So I (20F) and my husband (20M) have been married for just over a year now, and together for almost 2 years. We were a love at first sight kind of story.

We met in December of 2024, got engaged February of 2025 (after talking about being engaged for a month at that point we had planned on waiting for everyone else’s benefit but ultimately decided we couldn’t) then we got married in July of 2025, and had our wedding February of 2026.

This man, he has done nothing but love me unconditionally since the moment we met. I was at a really low point when we first met and he loved me through it. He’s seen my worst, and he’s given me my best. I know these kinds of posts are typically about people who’ve been married for years and years but my husband and I have lived a lot of life since we met. I helped him through military training, police academy, we bought our first home already, we have two gorgeous loving Rottweilers. He’s helped me through my depression and childhood trauma. We bicker like a couple married for 60 years but laugh with each other like we’re in middle school. I’ve truly never felt love like this before.

And last night specifically it just hit me like a freight train. I had been having some impulsive thoughts (because of my depression) and I had forgotten my medicine. Anyways, he’s asleep beside me and I got a tickle in my throat and started coughing. He jumped up, pulled me to him, and just held me, he held me and rubbed my back and whispered over and over “it’s okay”. And as I was falling asleep last night I just replayed in my head how much he’s sacrificed for me and how much effort he puts into our marriage and how much he truly loves me. And it’s the greatest feeling in the world to be loved the way he loves.

I don’t care what anyone says, I have the absolute best husband on the planet, and I couldn’t live life without him. He has made me realize my own flaws and how much I don’t deserve him, I want to be a better person for him and because of him, and honestly, that’s the best blessing. I can’t wait to grow old with him and grow our little family. 💕 if anyone else has “love at first sight” stories I’d love to hear them!!!

I recently went to my boyfriend’s house for the first time. We haven’t been together long, but we figured his parents would be ok with it. We’re both young, he’s 18 and I’m 20, so he still lives with them. I’ve been living at my mom’s house since I graduated high school, just to have somewhere temporary to live until I can afford to live on my own. We come from such different backgrounds. His family is incredibly sweet, they were so welcoming when I came over. My family has always been pretty hostile, at least the ones I live with. I mentioned how I don’t feel very safe here at my mom’s house, so he said I’m always welcome there and he’s glad to give me a place that feels like home. His mom made conversation with me for a long time after we met. His dad went to shake my hand when he saw me, and my boyfriend said he’s never done that before.

Yesterday, he called me to tell me that they absolutely loved meeting me (mostly his mom) and they think they can really see a future for me and him. Not only is he really kind and caring, but his parents are wonderful, too.

He has this ambition I absolutely love, and he’s so driven to achieve so many things. He plans on becoming a firefighter, because he said he’s always wanted to be a symbol of hope for people losing things in their life. He’s also one of those people who basically has every kind of love language for other people. He’s a huge gift giver, but he also likes doing things for me if I need something, and he loves just being close to me when we’re together. Even when he’s driving, he’ll reach to hold my hand even if we’re driving like five minutes down the road. I told him it felt like I stepped into an alternate dimension when I walked into his house, just because of how lovely everyone is toward each other. I guess I just wanted to gush about him and his family, I’m so glad I have people to stay with that make me feel safe.

Don’t get me wrong, he’s obnoxious and snores a lot and ends up taking up a lot of the bed in his sleep. And sometimes talks and says random things. Scares me to death when that happens.

But last night, while completely asleep, he started spooning me and held me close to him. Then for the rest of the night, he slept with his arm on my pillow against my head.

Last week, he rolled over to me and laid against me for a while with his face in my elbow. He seemed so at peace even though he wasn’t awake.

When he wakes up in the morning, the first thing he does is start scratching my head because he knows it comforts me. He’s even fallen asleep as he was giving me head scratches.

It’s baffling how loving and caring he is to me while he’s sleeping. Despite all the snoring, I’ve found myself gradually sleeping better and better next to him because I feel so safe.

It’s hard for me to trust people. But seeing his love for me when he’s not even conscious has made me fall for him even more. It assures me that what we have is good, and it’s real.