We had become good friends in a month, bonded over a mutual tendency to take care of others. When he found out I was self-quarantined, sick, in my bedroom, he came down with a cup of the best hot chocolate I’d ever tasted. He tucked me in and kissed me on the forehead. He was the first guy who showed me I was worth being taken care of.

—L

Postscript: It took us over a year after our friendship first formed to finally date officially. But I’ve loved him since that first cup of hot chocolate.

4

The man who had been my mechanic was so generous to loan me his Lincoln town car when I was without my car following my accident. Then he found me a “work car” for $600 and assured me that when I was ready to sell it, he would find a buyer for it and would sell it for more than $600, which he did. Who couldn’t love this man, helping a damsel in distress.

—Casey

Postscript: We have been married for 13 years, both of us with no regrets!

3

I fell in love with my husband when he put my bicycle in a taxi cab during the Chicago riots of 1968. This was our first meeting.

—Diane

Postscript: We have been married for 41 years, and our daughter was a scholarship recipient of the 19th Century Charitable Association.

2

We began dating a week prior to my birthday. He bought me a gaming guide for World of Warcraft and a Bruce Campbell movie and poster—he paid attention to what I liked and didn’t get me the standard flowers or candy.

—Joralyn

Postscript: We’re married and happy and play WoW together. (Yep, we’re nerds!)

2

My slouchy bag dragged in the water as I bent over to pick up debris left over from fixing a summer camp dock. I looked up and that’s when we met. Things were messy, then they were easier, and now I only receive his drunken Facebook messages. He always made fun of that bag. He still makes fun of that bag.

—Sara

Postscript: I don’t want to keep in touch with him. But on occasion I find myself thinking about him and wondering if I should give him a call.

4

We were both rigging our sails at the lake to go sail boarding. I forgot my boom at home. I asked him if he would keep an eye on my stuff while I ran back for it. When I returned an hour later, there he sat, watching my stuff like a hawk.

– Cherie

Postscript: We married, and a few years later, we were still windsurfing together even as I was pregnant with kid number 3.

9

One night after a mixer we were texting and he decided to call me. We ended up talking for 4 hours and I had never opened up to someone so early on. I knew he was someone I would love if not romantically, as a best friend.

—Margoth

Postscript: As of right now we have been dating for well over a year and he is still the person I tell everything to.

9