Sitting on a park bench, we talked for hours about South African politics. Him, the bright Namibian law student with the scruffy beard. And me, the wide-eyed undergraduate who dreamed of saving the world. As our hands locked, two different worlds inevitably became one.

—Fleur Sauvage

Postscript: After dating for two months during my undergraduate study abroad program, we decided to stay together (despite the 8,000 miles that separated us). We are engaged to be married next summer.

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I had a very tough day while I was working as a counselor at a sleepaway camp. It was color war, so it was completely normal that my long-time friend happened to be dressed in a makeshift tiger costume. Seeing that I was crying, he came over, gave me a hug and used his tail to dry my eyes.

—Esmeralda

Postscript: We’re best friends. We live in different parts of the country now, but I’m still pretty much in love with him. I regard him as a long-term project.

0

My boyfriend from home and I were “on a break.” I was playing a drinking game in a field in Paris with other international students, flirting with a German boy. We found a club, and I ended up dancing with him. I couldn’t stop thinking about my boyfriend. It was an incredible longing to be with him, to feel his body against mine. No cute foreign boy was worth losing him.

—Marie

Postscript: I got mugged on the way home from the club. It was probably God’s way of warning me not to touch other people. That same night, my boyfriend and I ended our break and agreed to be exclusive. We’ve now been dating for more than a year, and I still can’t stop thinking about him.

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We could have a three-hour discussion about the Cubs, argue about the starting lineup, claim that the other person was an idiot in regards to their stance on the Bartman issue, then cook dinner together and watch a romantic comedy. All in one day.

—Margaret

Postscript: We dated for three years, and, after it all, he’s still my best friend.

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I had a terrible sore throat and felt pretty miserable. We took a walk on the beach, and he held me in his arms as we stared out at the water—my sore throat went away and I melted into his embrace. I felt invincible.

—Christine

Postscript: That was about three months after we started dating. We’ve now been together for two-and-a-half years, and I’m more in love with him than ever.

1

When your girlfriend gets pregnant and you get married, everyone thinks you’re going to fail. She thought I married her because she was pregnant, not because I loved her. So I had another person to prove it to. When she was pregnant she was really sick. When you see each other at your worst and you can say, “I still love that person,” that means you really love them.

—John

Postscript: Almost 30 years and four kids later, I love her more than I ever have.

6

I saw the way that he treated my mother and the way she treated him back. She loved him before I did. With five sons she really wasn’t looking for another, and I thought, “Hm, this must be a pretty nice guy.”

—Eileen

Postscript: We dated for the last two years of high school and got married right after graduation. We’ve been together for 56 years and had a son and four perfect grandchildren.

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