Happy Valentine’s everyone!
In my family, we’ve always celebrated Valentine’s together. Before I met Elbert, I celebrated today as a day to show those around me love and care. Valentine’s isn’t just a day for couples, it’s a day to celebrate love, family, friendship, and more importantly self-love!
Side note, I’m a huge romantic sap.
I love romance and I love stories. This year, I put two and two together to compile some beautiful stories of finding love, being in love and the meaning of love.
I hope you enjoy the stories from my fellow bloggers (as well as a special one from my boyfriend)! Share yours in the comments below, would love to read them!
A Collection of Love Stories
It’s not uncommon for couples to have met at work. But this love story is anything but ordinary. Cindy, based in the Vancouver office of a global software company and Keith, based in the Paris office, met while working on an acquisition project together. As colleagues, they shared similar values that made them excel in their roles and connect on a personal level. Their friendship soon blossomed into romance and a long-distance relationship. Lovers of life and all things experiential, Cindy and Keith spent much of their time in France in its many wine regions, sampling local cuisine, meandering through towns and villages, and skiing the Alps.
As exciting as France was, Keith left Paris in late 2012 and moved to Vancouver so that he and Cindy could begin a new chapter in their relationship. With frequent trips to Whistler, the Okanagan wine region and a vibrant food scene in Vancouver, this helped ease Keith’s transition to the west coast city. As did the tight chemistry of their kids – three boys between them – who are thick as thieves. Cindy and Keith still travel fairly often and are headed on a romantic trip to the Amalfi Coast this summer where more wine, food and culture await.
Our love story is simple, we married each other’s first love. It doesn’t sound as fairytale as you thought. Our first relationship in school was very short lived and I guess by that time we were too young to figure out how a serious relationship should be like. We even lost contact after graduation and not until a few years later we started being friends again, started knowing each other a bit re-building our friendship and simply up to the point we believe we should be better together. Fast forward this year marks our 10th wedding anniversary. Love is not only a feeling, passion, or attraction, it’s an action to constantly learn and compliment from each other, compromise, work things out, grow up and old together.
I like to say that our relationship is living proof that being a groupie, and a bit of a stalker on social media, can lead to true love. I was a very big fan of Josh’s band and jumped at the chance to introduce myself (with help from a bit of liquid courage) when I spotted him at a party one night. Our introduction didn’t last long, and the next day I tracked him down on Facebook and Twitter (shows how long ago this was) and confidently sent him a friend request after seeing we already had 150 mutual friends. Once he accepted, he asked me out, and six years later we’re still going strong, own a house together and have two beautiful fur babies Olive and Emmy.
It was a warm spring day in the month of May and I was ultra-busy with my usual day to day festivities: Tinder.
I was single and ready to mingle while feeling my best self because I had just turned 30 about a week ago. I received a message from a man named Alex who looked different in all 4 of his images but his initial message to me took me by surprise. He was totally normal and spoke to me like a lady. Of course, I had to respond! I waited the day to reply to him but if he tells this story he’ll say I waited 3 days. Tinder glitch?
We met 2 days later, and he picked me up from my downtown condo entrance. In the elevator I thought “don’t have any expectations, it’s just a date” and I exited the elevator and headed for the door I thought to myself “oh, shit! I’m going to marry this man!” I knew it from the moment I saw him that he was the one for me. Our dinner lasted hours and we couldn’t stop chatting. Dinner moved to an evening walk around downtown and then finally home to say goodnight. No kiss, FYI! He doesn’t kiss on a first date…
We had 4 dates in 5 days and on the 5th day Alex formally asked me to be his girlfriend. Cue in 80’s style romance tune. Of course, I said yes, and it’s been almost 3 years of fun, laughter, tears, hugs, 3 cats and a different meal every Sunday.
It’s true what they say. When you know, you know.
Matt & I met while we were playing on the same intramural soccer team in university, both 20 years old. I was desperately trying to ditch this guy I had been dating (he was a dink) not aware that Matt had become pretty hell bent on getting the two of us together – all of a sudden it felt like we had so many soccer parties, etc. and that I was seeing him all the time! All his creepy doing behind the scenes to get more face time together. I thought I had a one-sided massive crush on him but finally one of his friends spilt that Matt had liked me for months. Single finally & with the knowledge that we both wanted to make it work, we started dating & the rest (or at least the last 10 years) is history!
It was love at first sight with Beau. He has been in my life for just over a year now and I can’t imagine life before him! He gives me more love than I can imagine receiving from anyone else. He is my Valentine. Ya, I know…he’s a dog but he is pretty much the perfect match for me and here are some reasons why Beau is the love of my life.
He is always excited to see me and spend time with me. He really doesn’t care what we do together…as long as we are together. In Beau’s world we would not spend a minute apart. I love his attention and attentiveness.
He lets me pick what we watch every single time! He doesn’t judge that I watch “50 First Dates” too much or re-watch “How I Met Your Mother” again and again.
I have no trouble reading him. I can tell how much he loves me by his enthusiastic kisses and wagging tail. There are no mixed signals from him.
He doesn’t judge that I haven’t showered and in fact I think he likes me better that way. He does not care that I am repeating the outfit that I wore yesterday or that I seem to live in my pajamas.
He puts up with me and I can count on him to ignore the fact that I may be in a crappy mood. I adore the fact that he loves me the same when I am grumpy and when I am happy. He understands that life has its ups and downs. He isn’t looking for perfection.
He makes me laugh a lot and I think he performs just for me. Why else would he do the silly things that he does?!?
His zeal for life is contagious and he gets me outside even on the rainiest of days.
Beau is a morning person…just like me.
He is always reminding me that every day is a fresh start. With Beau it is like every car ride or walk is a new and exciting experience. We could all use a bit more of Beau’s attitude in our life. Lastly, Beau takes whatever love I give him and doesn’t feel smothered. He loves me unconditionally 365 days a year.
My husband and I met back in December of 2008. We had both attended a friend’s party and ended up bonding over the music being played. We talked all night, and the next day I woke up to a phone call from him inviting me out on what would be our first date: sushi in a snowstorm. We’ve now been together for 9 years and just got married in August 2017. Our love story is one that always makes me smile, and I smile even more when I think of the fact that we have forever ahead of us.
Saved my favourite love story for last,
I mean I could’ve written it myself but getting Elbert to write it from his perspective was SO much more entertaining, he even wrote it in chronological order LOL
Elbert & Sam ~
- Go to work with breakfast in my bag. Spilled too much chili powder like some University student that can’t cook
- See cute girl in the elevator, turns out she is a new teammate.
- Microwave my food and start eating, but cough due to the extra spicy level x 1000
- Cute girl laughs, “Haha, can’t handle your spice? What kind of Asian are you?”
- Thinking to myself, what the heck cute girl, we just met and that’s what you start with?
- Turns out we get partnered to work together
- Chat all the way to our assigned location, surprisingly clicked well given that the first interaction with cute girl was somewhat aggressive over food.
- All we talked about was how female insects and angler fish eat or absorb their male partners. Am I going to be eaten?
- Miss our first stop, oh well. “Elbert” knows the way (my sense of direction sucks and we get lost in Stanley Park) – yes we got lost.
- Too tired to work and found out that cute girl has never had Pho. We go eat Pho and she was stoked as f*** – yes, keep her fed so I don’t get eaten
- We start working together more often, fearing for my life so start plan to keep her fed all the time. Turns out food is a huge hobby for her (sweating).
- Bit drunk, start conversation about Studio Ghibli movies. Turns out cute girl never watched Howl’s Moving Castle.
- “Hey cute girl, want to watch the movie?” She says okay. Okay cool, cute girl.
- Cute girl is Samantha.
- Samantha is my partner.
- Just in-case, I pretend I am a fish to show dominance so I don’t get eaten.
- Still alive 3.5 years later
To give love and be loved, is truly one of life’s greatest gifts!
Happy Valentine’s xx