I would like to hear a love story

[slimochuda]

I grew up dreaming about love and saw my parents so deeply in love until one of them died. There's so much sadness and dissatisfaction on here, amd I understand why but I so much want to hear from you if you are in love. Does it even exist anymore?

Yes, which is why I think the relationship board can get so heated at times. Nobody should have to put up with a partner who mistreats/uses them and it can be very emotive.

I met DP properly when I was 14. We lived on the same estate for a while so I saw him about. But when I was 14 I was with his best friend. Me and the best friend split, and 2 years later I got back in touch with the group through a mutual friend. DP met up with us and we just had a blast. There was definitely chemistry. We got together. 3 months later I was pregnant with DS1. We were young and stupid, and we split when DS1 was 2. We both attempted to move on but it didn't work When DS1 was 4, we ended up having a ONS with each other. The ONS led to me being pregnant with DD, and my mum telling me that it was about time I admitted I still loved him. So I did and we reconciled. He was there by my side through my pregnancy and SPD, through a cancer scare and PND. Then he did absolutely everything for me through another pregnancy (DS2) when DD was 10 months old. I was on crutches from very early in the pregnancy as it was much worse than the last one. He carried me to the toilet when I couldn't move, he had to get me dressed, he had to do everything.
He's there for me when I break down because of my past, he's one of the very few people I have trusted IRL with it. I honestly don't know what I'd do without him.
He means everything to me. Yeah we've had our problems, and we've had our ups and downs but we got through it all. And we will carry on defeating the shit times together.
He proposed on Christmas day. We can't afford the wedding I want any time soon, but we will get the money together eventually.

I love him and I can't imagine my life without him. Just don't let him know that, he will think I've gone insane being all soppy

Ive never had a relationship where I havent been mistreated, disrespected, lied ot or cheated on.

Love is fucking myth.

My parents got together when my mum was 16 and my dad 20. They didn't live in the same town until 9 years later but they travelled back and forward to see each other and phoned and wrote letters. They had a long and happy marriage until my father died at the age of 72. My father had Parkinsons and one of the things he found very hard was that he had to give control of everything over to my mother. He had made her a promise when they married that he would always take care of her and he thought he was letting her down. After he died, my mother discovered he had made a lot of investments to be paid out after his death (he was an economist), and she is now set up financially for the rest of her life. So in a way, he has kept his promise until the end.

Sothathappened - have to agree it would be a hard job to melt my heart now

Also, my mum never showed any interest in another man, never even flirted. I kind of assumed that she wasn't that way inclined. Turns out after my father died that she is an amazing flirt. I wish I had her talent for it. I mentioned it to her one time and she replied that of course she wasn't going to flirt with other men while she was married.

I am single and with SoThatHappened in many ways.

Over the past couple of years I've been 'looking' for evidence of love in the relationships around me.

And really looking for it, I want to believe And so I wanted to find.

I began to think I'd seen it many times, until I realised that the reality is that love and a 'happy' marriage requires a whole lot of ignoring a huge elephant in the room and self delusion.

I don't tend to post on these boards, but I have been with my DH since I was 17, nearly 30 years. We have had ups and downs but he is my soulmate, I really couldn't live without him. I am also proud to be married and have his surname, and its nice all our children having the same name as me, that was important to me, as I came from a broken home in the 70s and had a different name from my mother, when I was at school, I think I was the only one with divorced parents, now sadly I think it is the norm. Feminists won't like my view but I love being taken care of and having DH to rely on when things are tough. He looks after my car, any DIY, sorts out car insurances, etc. I would not be able to live on my own, I have never done it and I don't want to.

Hyacinth that is lovely but what if you husband became ill - it's quite a burden on his shoulders now that your kids have grown up? Who would do your car if the worst happened? Nice story though.

Coffee, Yes, I do worry about him becoming ill, as we are getting older. he is the "strong" one. I do have my own health issues so it is a worry. I suppose I would have to learn to stand on my own 2 feet PDQ! I am not totally useless, but the thought of being on my own is scary

Hyacinth - I am sure your not useless

In 1990, after my grandfather died, my grandmother asked me to drive her across the country to see an old friend from before the war. On the way, she mentioned that the man we were going to see had been in love with her before and after she married my grandfather.

I arrived with my grandmother and we sat down for lunch with the old man and his wife. When the four of us had finished eating, his wife said that I really must see the garden so the two of us went outside together. In the garden she explained that there was nothing to see outside, but she had wanted to let the two of them have some time together alone, because they had been lovers years ago.

Admittedly the risk of infidelity was low, but I found her consideration for her husband very affecting.

We met online...only emailed each other for a week before he, then I went on holiday (although we had early model smart phones, going online abroad was unthinkable), so didn't "speak" for 3.5 weeks. We thought of each other every day. I came back to a play it cool email asking if I wanted to meet at some point, I played it less cool and said I was available the following evening. I drove to the date KNOWING I was about to meet the man I would marry. I fell in love with him that night. And he fell in love with me. 7 years together, married for 3, 2 kids and although we're not the say-it-everyday type, we are so ridiculously in love still. Completely wonderful. It does exist.

I met my husband for the first time when I was 17 he was 10 years older and a uni friend of my brother.
We got together when I was 19 and I feel completely in love, at 20 I become pregnant unexpectedly but we was happy we brought a house for the baby, but sadly at 30 weeks I went in to labour and our baby daughter was stillborn. It is the hardest thing we've ever been though but somehow it made us stronger. After this we decided we would not have a baby for a fair few years and we travelled a bit.
In 2014 we build a house from scratch and decided to try for a baby I feel pregnant very quick and there was a lot of worry about the pregnancy but in September 15 I gave birth to a happy content baby boy.
In October 15 we married in San Francisco with our family there. I am currently 18 weeks pregnant with baby number 2.
I can honestly say I love my husband completely and he is the man I will spend the rest of my life. This is true love

Lurking, did you at least see his photo online? Otherwise it's total telepathy to be sure someone will be your H if you only emailed for a week. Unless it wasn't a dating site but some kind of strong common interest over which you immedoately bonded?
What was it that you liked so much quickly? Whenever I met someone after a good online chat, there was never chemistry in RL - there was maybe with one man but he turned out to be not for me after a couple of dates, other (important) reasons.

Yes, saw his photo. So I knew I was attracted to him physically. Turns out it was actually a bloody awful photo too so I was even more pleasantly surprised when I met him. It was definitely his sense of humour on email, he had me laughing out loud - and other than that, I can't explain it. We had just clicked over such a short space of time and limited communication. So weird, but I just knew. In fact, whenever I drive part of the route I took to our first date, I get a flutter in my stomach, still.

Met my husband at 17, went to uni and married him when we were 22 and 23 respectively. Knew he was too good to get away. Only sexual partner we have each had. Married 16 years and 1 DD. Had some difficult times but we have weathered them. I believe love stories do happen...

I met my DP 6 years after a hideous divorce and separation, aged 43. It was love at first phone call really. OLD - my second date with someone. I shut my eyes and kissed him as he walked through the door and that was it. I'd thought I'd never ever have another partner or ever believe in another man and I am unbelievably happy.

Knew my DP was the one for me the moment I met him. I am still head over heels in love with him (and six months pregnant!) ten years later and we are very, very happy.

Whatever happens, I will always feel lucky that I go to spend whatever time I get with someone I love this much - the initial butterflies and heart in mouth feeling hasn't ever left.

Me and my DH both lost a parent in the last year. Both my parents and his had amazing marriages - both couples got together in their early 20s and I truly believe never had a day of doubt about each other - it really was 'till death do us part'. Always we are grieving enormously that two of our loved ones died in their 60s, it is a huge comfort to know that their lives and marriages really were joyful.

I always knew that my mum and dad had something special, and (for a long time) that my relationships weren't measuring up.

When I got together with DH (in my 30s - we knew each other for ever) I knew that I had been lucky enough to find what my parents had - the person that was perfect for me, who brought me nothing but happiness. However long I'm on the planet - and that's really thrown into question when you lose a parent - I think it is such a privileged thing to experience.

I am in love 😊

I met my DP because he burnt some bacon and set the fire alarm off in our block of flats.

We became friends and started to hang out with each other in the evenings. Slowly we realised we liked each other and one night he kissed me

We've been together ever since (2.5 years) and we now live together.

We are a complete mismatch but work really well.

Him - sports mad, loves junk food, very "unemotional" and laid back

Me - girly, highly anxious, obsessively heathy

He really chills me out 😊

DH and I don't have a romantic love story. I don't believe in love at first sight. I wasn't even sure I fancied him when we first started going out. But over time I realised he was kind, funny, attractive, interesting and he didn't take my shit. He was good for me, and accepted me for exactly who I am. He never tried to change me, but I feel like being with him has made me a better person because he's inspired me to become the best version of myself. We've been through some incredibly difficult times, but even when everything else has been hard, "us" has always been easy. I truly believe that after everything we've gone through together there's nothing that could break us up. Ultimately we are incredibly close friends and have a deep level of respect for each other, and I think that's what will keep us together for the rest of our lives. Its not glamorous, but it's real.

A line from an old episode of Scrubs has always stuck in my mind: "Whatever I'm doing, I have more fun if I'm doing it with you." That's how I feel about DH.

Eyes met over a crowded dance floor... well a grotty club. Both slightly high on chemical substances however we danced, talked and snogged, swapped numbers and he was waiting for me outside my work the next night in his dad's rover.

That was 15 years ago, we've barely been apart since we met as sweaty, spaced out teenagers!