We were just standing there in the kitchen, he was making me dinner at his place. I looked at this man and thought to myself, “This is someone I could build a life with…”

— Jess

Postscript: I moved from Chicago to Wisconsin to be with this man, and couldn’t be happier!

3

He worked the dinner shift at a restaurant near my house and he would stop by to see me every night after work. Sometimes our visits lasted merely seconds, other nights he would stay out till the sun rose. One night, he delayed the start of a weekend trip with friends in order to see me. I told him that as much as I loved his visit, he couldn’t keep his friends waiting.

“I needed to see you just before I left,” he said to me softly, “since anything else just isn’t important enough.”

—T

Postscript: That was the night I realized I loved him, but I didn’t say it till weeks later. Every day he makes me feel like I did that night, and I have never been this happy in my life. I have hope for our future together, because I know that with him life will always be beautiful.

12

He’s in the military. It was about a week before he was set to deploy, I was with him for a long weekend on post. I had told him I loved him long before that and the weekend was filled with all sorts of wonderful moments, but I remember doing nothing on this day. Nothing except going to the barber shop to get his hair trimmed. As we waited, he held my hand and a tired calm washed over me. When it was finally his turn, I watched the lady carefully to see how she did it. He made faces at me the entire time. I realized then that I wanted to learn to cut his hair for him someday, and I wanted to do it for the rest of my life. Silly faces and all.

—Ruth

Postscript: The deployment came and went, feels like we’ve been through hell and back. It was rocky…and now he’s being stationed someplace else. We may or may not get married. I consider him the love of my life either way…and I still want someone to show me how to buzzcut a “high and tight.”

9

It had been two years of hidden feelings and flirty games since he confessed his feelings for me. We remained friends, just friends, until one visit when he kissed me before boarding a bus to go home. Two months later I went to visit him, the first time it would be us together this way. It was perfect, falling asleep in a pillow fort, strolling hand-in-hand through the zoo. Laying on his chest, I could feel the words welling up. I looked at him, he smiled and said “What?” And then it just came out, “I’m in love with you.” His smile widened, “I’m so in love with you.”

—Liz

Postscript: We’ve been dating since then and it’s only getting better.

16

I was leaving a bar and I saw her standing outside smoking with a friend. I pretended to be drunk, and jokingly told her they were throwing me out because I was too tall and that my moves were too hot. She told me she would find me on the dance floor in 20 minutes and that we would steam it up. About a half hour later, while I was dancing, she danced up and took a photograph of herself kissing me on the cheek, and then danced away. A few minutes later, we started dancing together. We’ve been dancing together ever since, and in the photo that she took of us it looks like we’ve been together for years.

—Rob

Postscript: Very much in love, and moving in together in one week.

5

We were chatting and I had to go somewhere. He said, “Wear a seat belt!” which is the stupidest thing to say in any conversation. Then he continued, “Or, I don’t know… be safe. I can’t stand the thought of losing you.”

—N.

Postscript: We were best friends who’d made the tragic transition to boyfriend-girlfriend. He realized he liked me as a sister but we’d hook up randomly from time to time. We’re still close friends.

2

He saw me on a mutual friend’s list and emailed me on MySpace. We talked and the next day went out to the river all day, went out to dinner, and at the end of 7 hours of listening to me, he still wanted to take a short walk. We started dating 4 days later. He’s the most intelligent, funny, and thoughtful guy I’ve ever met. We both stepped out of our comfort zones and found the perfect match!!

—Kala

Postscript: Over a 1 year since we met on MySpace and began dating. We are making plans and working on our future together and happy!!

2