r/love

I(25f) think I’ve met the one (24f). We’ve been seeing each other since February and made it official back in June. It’s been nothing but spontaneous fun, lots of laughter, and truly getting to know each other. Although we both live west, I love spending summers back where I’m from on the east coast and prefer to spend majority of my time here during warmer months. She had two days in a row off so I decided to fly her out to see me. Even though it was such a short amount of time we made every second count. Seeing her in my family home, taking her to do some of my favorite things.. It was all so special. The way she interacted with my childhood friends and family really got me. It’s been almost 8 months of her and I continue to fall for her every single day.. I’ve never been like this with anyone and as much as it scares the hell out of me, I’m all in. She is the best partner I could ask for and I have nothing to compare it to. It’s passionate, it’s silly, it’s sweet and everything in-between. I know we are both young but I think we’re two very experienced people and I see myself with her long term. Anyways I just wanted to let this out lol. It’s a blessing experiencing this feeling and I can’t stop gushing.

My partner recently told me, out of nowhere, that he wanted to start going for counselling. And honestly, I don’t think I realised at first just how proud I would feel of him for doing it.

This is his first time ever going for counselling, and I think it takes a lot of courage and vulnerability to put yourself in that position and to acknowledge that “There are things about myself that I want to understand and work on.”

He’s only had two sessions so far, but I can already see how much he’s taking from them.

Every time he shares with me about his counselling sessions, he’s so reflective. He talks about things he realised about himself, how certain things make him feel, why he reacts in certain ways, and what he could do differently. It genuinely feels like he’s trying to understand himself on a deeper level rather than just trying to “fix” whatever problems he has. And I think that’s what makes me so proud.

He’s not going to counselling because I told him he needed to. He decided for himself that he wants to become better. He told me that he’s trying his best, for us, and that honestly made me so emotional. Because I can see him trying.

I don’t expect him to be perfect. I don’t even want him to feel like he has to change anything about himself for me. What makes me proud is simply seeing that he cares enough to reflect, to learn, and to keep trying.

And strangely enough, his growth has made me want to grow too. Watching him put in the effort makes me want to become a better version of myself. A better partner for him. Someone who also reflects on myself, communicates better, loves him better, and continues growing alongside him.

I think that’s one of the most beautiful things about a relationship. It’s not about finding someone who is already perfect, but finding someone who says, “i want to become better,” and being able to say, “Me too. Let’s grow together.”

We are just 2 imperfect people, both trying to become better people and better partners for each other. I just feel really, really lucky to have him. And really super duper proud of him.

You might think: why on earth are you scared? To be in love is such a beautiful feeling, and when it’s mutual? Well, even better. The thing is…I’ve never experienced such a thing. I’ve been in love in the past, but it was one-sided. I was the one who cried and spent sleepless nights loving someone who clearly wasn’t loving me back.
Now I met this guy a few months ago. We literally liked each other from afar, and once we started talking, it was just…easy. We never stopped. We see each other every day, and whenever I’m with him, it feels like time flies. I laugh, I smile, my heart seems to melt every time I look at him. I’ve never felt such a thing before, because it’s mutual and it feels incredibly good but also terrifying.
He actually told me “I love you” first, and I was shocked at first because nobody’s ever told me such a thing. I didn’t feel ready to say it back, I needed time. But the more I spent my days with him, the more I realized how badly I was falling for this man. Like, really badly.
Yesterday we spent such an amazing day together. Dancing, laughing, singing stupid songs and just being silly together. I loved every second of it. Then, it happened. I wanted to tell him so badly, but I couldn’t find the right words. I was going insane. Until I finally said it, and his reaction was priceless. He was so happy and also shocked because he didn’t really think I’d say that. Well, I did. It felt good. I’d never said it before.
But…now I feel so scared because it feels like I gave him my whole heart and I’m showing him pieces of myself that I’d never show anyone. Yet I can’t help it. But it’s scary. I wish I could just enjoy the moment and not think about so many things. I wish I could help myself feel better, but it’s hard when you’ve spent half of your life loving people and never had someone loving you back.
I trust him, I do. But…what if he wakes up and realizes he doesn’t actually want me?

I remember the first time I held him in my arms.

So unknown, yet so mine at the same time.

How do I explain the love you feel for someone
you’re seeing for the very first time, but whom you carried inside you for nine months?

Someone you already knew without ever having seen his face.

And suddenly, there he is, after waiting for him for so long, looking at you for the very first time.

You tell yourself you’re not ready for so much responsibility, for having to do everything so perfectly, for raising this little person and turning him into a good child, a good man.

And you wonder if, when he grows up, he’ll end up hating you, or if he’ll become your companion, your best friend.

You’re terrified of everything that’s coming, of everything you’re about to step into.

And eventually, you discover that it’s wonderful.

A wonder of everlasting love.

It’s a love that never ends.

One you stay in not out of obligation, but because you want to, because you need to stay.

There are no words that can explain the love I feel for him.

And maybe that is the only kind of love I have ever felt capable of lasting forever.

I just really want to appreciate this man for a moment because I genuinely don't think I do it enough (and honestly, it will never be enough. I could write a whole book with a thousand pages and it would still not be enough).

I’m genuinely crazy in love with my boyfriend. Like, to the point where someone could probably look at me and go, “Yeah, this girl is boy crazy.” And honestly, I’m completely fine with that.

It doesn’t negatively affect my life. If anything, this man motivates me every single day and helps me become a better version of myself. He pushes me, supports me, encourages me, and somehow just makes me want to keep growing. He’s genuinely such a good person that sometimes I sit there and think, did I really get this lucky?

Sometimes I wonder if I love him “too much,” but then I think, is there even a measurement for that? And if there is, I don’t really care. Neither of us is complaining, so I’m not exactly looking for a cure.

He takes care of me too. At the end of a stressful day, sometimes I just look at him and realize, yeah, I have him. I don’t care what happens. I have him, and that’s all that matters to me. It means more to me than I could ever explain.

A hundred things could be going wrong in my life, but just knowing that one thing, that I have him, makes everything feel lighter. It doesn’t make the problems disappear. It just makes me think, okay, yeah. It’s okay. You have him.

When he’s sleeping, I miss him. But that comes with its own little perk because then I get excited waiting for him to wake up. And when he finally does, I get this little burst of happiness just because he’s awake. So there are these tiny little bursts of happiness throughout the day on top of the giant burst of happiness that is just his existence.

When he’s out, I miss him and apparently I pout. I don’t actually know if I do, but he says I pout and that I look sad when he’s gone, so I guess I’ll take his word for it lol.

And yeah, his mood affects mine too. If he’s sad, I get sad. If his tone is off, I notice it and get sad. If he’s stressed, I feel it too. Maybe some people would see that and say I’m too emotionally attached, but honestly, I’m not bothered by it.

He’s worth it.

I love being in love with him. I love having someone who makes me this happy, someone I can look forward to, someone who makes me want to be better every day.

And the funny thing is, a few years ago, if you had asked me what I thought about love, I probably wouldn’t have been looking forward to finding it at all. I genuinely thought I wasn’t worth loving.

I thought I’d probably end up in some arranged-marriage/ relation-type situation, where someone would be with me simply because he couldn't find anything slightly better. I didn’t think I would actually find someone who genuinely loves me and shows up for me every single day.

But that little girl who used to dream about having her prince charming while watching Disney fairy tales actually got him.

And you know what? No prince can beat this man.

Nope.

No one can compete with him.

So if being this ridiculously in love with my boyfriend makes me boy crazy, then yeah.

I’m boy crazy. And I have absolutely no intention of recovering.

This will probably be long because I can talk about my man forever. For some context, I spent my teenage years and early 20s in unhealthy relationships. I always shrugged it off and just thought 'this is how it's going to be'. Since my example of love growing up was pretty similar and my parents had a toxic relationship.

When I turned 28, I ended a relationship I had been in for almost 5 years and pretty much burnt my entire life to the ground to start over. I started therapy to unpack past traumas and work on myself and the toxic habits I'd picked up along the way. By age 30, I was completely content with life. And with being single. I had absolutely zero interest in any romance. I was enjoying my personal time, I'd had children in my previous relationship and I really valued the little time I got for myself since becoming a single mum. I declined dates from men who I found attractive and had a lot going for them because I simply wasn't interested.

Until I met my current boyfriend.

I was always the first to roll my eyes at anyone who used the phrase 'when you know, you know.' Until it happened, and I knew.

This man is the answer to all the prayers I made when I was younger. Every blown out birthday candle, every shooting star, every dandelion seed and eyelash that I blew out into the wind came back to me in this one person and I've never felt so lucky in love.

He is my home. It took us two months into the relationship to even watch a 30 minute episode of something on the TV because every moment we spent together was just us laughing, talking, kissing, getting to know one another so deeply that we didn't even think to turn on the TV at any point. We regularly end up staying awake until 5am just putting the world to rights, being intimate, giggling like children and loving each other so wholly. He has a demanding job with a difficult shift pattern, and we still both make as much time for each other as we can. I am so proud of him and how hard he works. Whenever he comes home we love on each other like he's been away for months. I still do find myself enjoying my time alone when it arises, but I miss him during this time and could happily spend 25/8 with him. I never have to be anything but 100% myself with him. And he loves all of me. I feel so safe, so accepted and so comforted by him. His presence alone makes me feel completely content.

I am utterly convinced that I will find him and love him in every single lifetime, and that we've already spent 100 together before. I can't really find the words to fully explain how wonderful it feels to do life with him. From the moment we met, I knew I was where I was supposed to be. He has welcomed my children with open arms. It feels so surreal to watch this man step up and provide a safe, loving home with me for my children that aren't biologically his. They absolutely adore him and they light up whenever he walks into the room, whether he's just popped to the toilet, or he's coming home from work or running some errands, they run into his arms and he welcomes them with a grin on his face. Every. Single. Time.

I could cry from joy every time I think about how lucky me and my children are.

Until the last star burns into oblivion, my heart will be his. Even after that, actually. He is my forever and after. I strongly believe that the work I put into myself, my children and my life needed to be done before I could accept the love I deserved from this man. We met each other when the timing was right and I am so privileged to be able to spend the rest of my life loving him and being loved by him.

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..!

So me and my partner (20m & 19nb) have been together for about a year and a half and I've liked them for 5 years (I know a bit ridiculous but we weren't in good places mentally to date at the time) And a couple weeks ago they were asking about my ring size and said they've been "planning something" since March, which is when our anniversary is. We're going out on my 21st birthday just to celebrate together without any stress and I've been wondering if they're planning on proposing. I'm not gonna get my hopes up I just think it might happen and I've been wanting to share this with others, I know we're both young but we aren't rushing into anything, please no hate about this i just want to share something positive without getting negativity

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?