
When you find the love of your life, you want to do your best to work through any hardships and hold on to them.
But finding the right one takes time.
Many of us have had to kiss a few toads and learn from those past relationships to know what to look for in future partners in life.
And then there are those who realized what they were looking for were those who had been in their lives already.
Curious to hear about the love stories from strangers online, Redditor shnoozel_doozel asked:
"People who ended up with their first crush, what's your story?"
The feelings were mutual, but sometimes Cupid has to shoot his arrow to nudge things along.
Drunk Epiphany
"Trying to sum up a truly long story..."
"First grade, love at first sight. For me. Not her."
"She moved schools in 7th grade, I was devastated. Thought I'd never see her again, but it was a small city and I was not a smart boy."
"Mutual friends and interests saw us become good friends in high school. Good enough for her to bring me to her prom, but not enough to have a romantic date."
"Through college and after, we'd keep in touch and hang out during holidays back home, but life went on until my second college stint, dating another woman, I was hit with the need to tell her how I felt. Not to get together with her, but just to get it off my chest. She knew I liked her but not to what extent. She was having a bad time at school doing her doctorate in geology. For obvious reasons, my relationship with the other woman failed."
"Damn, this is getting long."
"That January, we got together to watch movies. I was nervous to tell her, so I kept pouring her wine. Turns out, she was nervous to tell me she had been having feelings for me for a year, so she kept drinking the wine. Her dad, laying on the floor watching the movies with us, was oblivious to everything."
"We're finally alone, she says something, I blurt out, 'WAIT, ARE YOU HITTING ON ME?' And we spend our first night as a couple with me holding her hair while she puked."
"Married in 2006, now have two amazing kids and she doesn't drink. ...as much."
– cjsphoto
The Object Of Her Affection
"We met in band when I was 10 years old and I was immediately both terrified of and obsessed with her and couldn't quite identify why- over the course of middle school, the fear kind of faded- I definitely had a crush, but was fairly confident she'd never see me that way and I decided I would just try to be her friend. I definitely made a fool of myself in front of her a few times, but I tried to stay subtle about having a thing for her. At the end of 8th grade, she mentioned offhand that she was interested in someone, and I pestered her about who it was until she finally told me that it was me. Once the complete and utter shock wore off, I asked if I could hold her hand. That was 10 years ago and I plan on asking her to marry me later this year."
If your crush is meant to be your partner in life, then there should be no rush in getting together, as these couples have experienced.
The Right Time
"Uk based story."
"School trip to Longleat, a pretty blond girl on the back seat of the coach caught my eye... but I was shy when I was 14. It was ok though, I'd caught her eye and her friend told me to sit next to her."
"We dated on and off through school. I always had a crush on her. Then she wasn't there any more. I now know that her dad had got a job in Hong Kong. The plan was for her to do Olevels and she'd been accepted into the RAF and the England Hockey summer camp, so she had things lined up. But her mum decided at Christmas that she wanted to be in Hong Kong too... and by new year 1985 had emigrated with her plans and exams ruined."
"When I was 17 I got a job at the local supermarket for spending money. I was behind the cheese counter. I saw her come in, I was mortified, in my white coat and plastic trilby, so I hid in the fridge."
"I assumed she was back in town... but I didn't see her again. I thought about her often, spoke about her to my best mate wondering where she'd gone"
"I went on to my normal life, had kids etc."
"She went on to an extreme life, she'd had to steal money to run away from Hong Kong to England, with just a Teddy bear - and as it turned out, no money to get from Heathrow to Liverpool because someone stitched her up bouncing a check. Luckily the CEO of British Caledonian had seen her on the airplane and was walking past when he realised she was in trouble. She was eyecatchingly beautiful.... he got a driver to take her to Liverpool."
"She went to art college, but a friend died of drugs and felt she might go the same way, so she left there.... but then lived a life of homelessness, suffered much violence, and a full on drug fueled party lifestyle. Although also some great highs - she counted pop stars and artists as friends, ate at top restaurants and stayed in top hotels."
"When I was 40, its 2008 now - freshly divorced, very broke and in a bad way mentally her name popped up on Facebook."
"We met up... she had also thought about me in time apart. We moved in together, and have been married for 8 years and are very very happy."
"I often wonder what would have happened if I hadn't hid in the fridge. I dwell on it sometimes. She has largely got over the worst parts of her early life and had successfully quit drugs in 2000 so I didn't see the party girl. But her scars remain and that saddens me when I think about it."
Guy With The Waist-Length Curls
"We met our first day of high school in 1996. I sat behind him in third period English. He had gorgeous thick waist-length black curls that my hands just itched to play with. We had a few mutual friends, hung out in the same group during lunch. Most of our classes were coincidentally next door to each other, so we ended up walking from class to class together every day. Those five-minute walks became the highlight of my life that year."
"Obviously I had the biggest crush on him. I was nowhere near confident enough to tell him in high school or, for that matter, during the following thirteen years as we navigated the awkward transition into adulthood. We drifted in and out of each other's lives like best friends do at that age, but we never lost that thread that connected us. After we graduated, we met at a local diner every few months, drank bad coffee and debated Kantian ethics late into the night. (We've never quite seen eye-to-eye on the Germans, still don't). He was my confidante, the only person I could share the deepest parts of my soul with. That intense schoolgirl crush faded over time into something that felt a little more like a bottomless pool of affection and respect."
"Fast forward to 2009. I was 27. I'd just ended a six-year relationship six weeks earlier. I was emotionally adrift that summer. I certainly wasn't ready to start dating again. I called to wish him a happy birthday; he said if I wasn't doing anything, I should swing by his parents' for a slice of cake and champagne. I drove across town to find most of his guy friends helping him move his things into his parents' garage. His fiancée had called off their four-year engagement on his birthday."
"Later that night, after everyone else had gone home, we laid on his parents' driveway staring up at the stars. I asked him why he just walked away without a fight when she gave him back the ring. He said: 'Because I won't risk losing my window again. This is the first time since high school you've been single for more than five minutes. I love you. I've always loved you. I'll buy you a ring tomorrow if you say yes.'"
"I said no."
"He asked if I'd go out on a date with him. I said no, I wasn't ready."
"Then he asked if we could go get coffee at the diner. I said yes."
"As we parted again at sunrise, he kissed my forehead and said, 'There's no expiration date on that proposal.' We started dating three weeks later, moved in together two months after that. Somewhere along the way, I realized 'bottomless pool of affection and respect' is the mature way of saying 'love of your life.' We got married on our fifth anniversary, barefoot in my parents' living room, in a thirty-second ceremony officiated by my father. August will be our 7th wedding anniversary and the 25th anniversary of the first walk we took together."
"And for the record, he still has waist-length curls and I get to play with them anytime I want now."
The progression of relationships like these come naturally without any pressure.
The Friendship
"We met in middle school. Became really good friends, dated for a week as you can date in middle school. We broke up and dated a few other people. Two weeks into high school I told him to come keep me warm at the high school football game. He's been doing it now for 30 years. Three kids together now. Love every day with him."
The "Dead Weight"
"She was the only gay girl in school. She had a beautiful bob with waves in it and the sweetest green eyes. She ended up in my bio class so I had an excuse to get her number. Thousands of texts later, she said she liked me outside English. I was floored but obviously said I did too because I would stare at her endlessly. After the best first date that closeted 14 year old me could muster up, we kissed. We started dating and I brought her home at 16. My parents were so excited and threw us a party because that's what happens when your parents are hippies.
She's amazing at soccer and got a scholarship. I followed her and we moved in together. I'm dead weight to her. I can't cook, she cleans, and she never gets angry. I have actually burned water before, am a horrible cleaner, and am frustrated 24/7. She never asks for anything and thanks me for the bare minimum. Every day, I want to improve for her because she's so amazing. Both 20 now and never been better. My first kiss and my last <3"
I know a few couples who were high school sweethearts, and they remain happily married to this day.
I find those relationships particularly endearing because they have known each other the longest and have been through many challenges in adulthood together.
But I don't frown upon those who had to spend time alone before finding the love of their life. Because no one should ever have to settle when it comes to sharing a life together.
It's highly believed that it is important to learn history as a means to improve our future.
What is often overlooked is that what is taught in history class is going to be very different depending on where you went to school.
And this isn't just internationally, even different regions of the United states will likely have very different lessons on American history.
This frequently results in our learning fascinating, heartbreaking and horrifying historical facts which our middle or high school history teachers neglected to teach us.
Redditor Acherontia_atropos91 was curious to learn things people either wished they had learned, or believe they should have learned, in their school history class, leading them to ask:
What isn’t taught in history class but should be?
The Irish Troubles
"The troubles."
"Too many people in America do not understand why a wall straight through Ireland would be a BAD idea."
"I’m referring to the Brexit referendum and possible outcomes."
"If people were wondering why we were talking about walls through Ireland in the first place."- CLCVS.
Forgotten elements of World War II
"What the Japanese did to the Chinese during WW2."
"Unit 731."- CaptainMcBoogerJew.
"Japan gets off easy for their war crimes in WW2."
"They killed an estimated 16mil Chinese civilians and another 8mil soldiers"
"Also, Pol Pot."
"Didn't know who he was until I was like 25."
"Worst dictator all time (in terms of percentage of population he decimated)".
The truth about the American Revolution
"That the American Revolution was part of a wider cold war type of conflict with France."
"The American Revolution was basically the UK's equivalent of the US version of Vietnam."- vinsant7.
The Dark side of Swedish history.
"As a Swede, I'd like to know more of all the horrible sh*t my country has done throughout history."
"It's a damn shame we're trying to hide our history."
"For example, Swedes killed a metric sh*t ton of all Polish people when we were at our strongest."
"That's the kinda sh*t we don't get to learn."- mogwandayy.
Colonization
"Basically what Belgium did to the Congo."
"A lot of people are telling me that they are taught about this actually."
"I'm glad to hear it because I wasn't taught about this in the USA during my public school days (1995-2008)."- EconArch.
The truth about "heroes".
"While teaching about historical Heroes they should also tell students about the unspeakable things some of them did."
"Many famous figures throughout history who are pillars of morality actually did many terrible things." - User Deleted
Intolerance for Mental Illness
"The dark history of mental illness treatments."
"I think it's worth learning about."- 7dayexcerpt.
Slavic Mythology
"Slavic mythology in Slavic countries."
"Don't get me wrong, I love both Greek & Roman mythology and as a person from the Balkans both of those cultures are part of my country's history and had great influence over not only my region but the entirety of the continent & the western world but I wouldn't mind knowing more about Slavic mythology as well."- ShorsShezzarine.
The truth about the CIA
"How the CIA was made and all the shady things they did over the years."- ALargeChip.
There is a lot about the history of our world, not to mention our own country which shouldn't be ignored.
And it's from learning from our mistakes that we really improve our future.
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So apparently we are in the endemic phase of this nonsense.
We have light at the end of the tunnel.
So what now?
Where do we go from here?
Normal seems like an outdated word.
How do we get back to normal though?
Is it even possible?
What are reaching back to?
Life pre-Covid.
Those were the days.
If only we could bring them back.
Redditor hetravelingsong wanted to discuss our new normal in this hopeful "endemic" phase. So they asked:
"What’s something random you miss about pre-COVID times?"
I miss people being sane. Though that maybe election cycle issues not COVID. We'll never know.
I thought I was Alone...
"Being able to grocery shop after 11 pm."
Reading_Rainboner
"Hell yes. I miss the days where the Walmart across the street was open 24 hours."
Small_Tax_9432
let's just go...
"I miss spontaneity... everything now seems to have a barrier of difficulty."
iidosee
"I live very close to Disneyland so I have an annual pass. My friends and I would just go there after work and hang out and grab a bite to eat."
"Now, we have to reserve a day to go. And most of the time, the days are at 'full' capacity so we couldn't even reserve. I don't want to schedule to hang out at Disneyland for a couple hours for July. So yeah, I definitely miss the 'lets go eat at Disneyland tonight?' texts."
mymymissmai
Not til 24-25
"Functioning global supply chains. Ah, the product you want has got microchips in it? 9 month wait."
richard-king
"Minimum, I'd been saying for a while now that I wouldn't expect a true return to normalcy in terms of electronics prices till 2024-2025. Although Crypto crashing through the floor really took some of the pressure off graphics cards which I really appreciate."
statiiic
WTF?!?!
"How affordable everything was!"
Disastrous_Hour_6776
"Yep. Today I was bagging up my things at the grocery store and I heard the cashier say to the lady behind me 'thats $78.12.' She had -- 2 boxes of Kellogg's corn flakes, a carton of 12 eggs, milk, strawberries, raspberries, blue berries, a small cheese cake, English muffins, coffee, and a small whole frozen chicken that could maybe feed 3 people if the meat portioning was small."
SnowyInuk
Sushi
"My favorite sushi place. It was good quality, close by, kid-friendly, and not too expensive."
InannasPocket
All of this... it was a simpler time.
NASTY
"As a retail worker, just how f**king NASTY some people have gotten."
DmitriPetrov*itch
"They applauded you for being an essential worker but won’t vote for policies that’ll raise minimum wage while insisting a wage cap for heavily paid employees."
sketchysketchist
CHANGES your DNA...
"Some of the people closest to me became very bitter and petty over the last 2 years. So many people have the 'crazy eyes' now."
__--__7
"So true and holidays with the family is like who has the biggest tinfoil hat building contest. How many jumps does your brain have to go through to think that the Covid vaccine CHANGES your DNA into the patented DNA so that the government now controls your body."
"So like vaccinated people now have a singular DNA set. I feel like I still have a chunk of my brain just broken off due to that comment alone. I was also told by same family member that I could never donate blood again due to the vaccine. I guess it is so my patented DNA doesn't affect people?? FYI my vaccinated butt just donated today fine and multiple other times after the vaccine."
tyreka13
Homeward Bound
"House prices."
adrianinked
"I'm resigned to never thinking I have a chance on owning property where I live. I'm 30 and just can't imagine it anymore. And I don't want to live anywhere else so, whatever."
Osdab2daf
"That didn’t happen because of the pandemic. That was already happening regardless."
CH11DW
Oh Mickey
"All Day Breakfast at McDonalds."
hutch2522
"It was honestly hell to do, and not very popular. ITs margins aren't anywhere dinner and lunch specials. ON top of that, the temperatures are such that They require its own grill, meaning that if you have 2 grills in shop, you are down 50% of lunch capacity."
Freyas_Follower
Way back when...
"Hanging out with friends. And I mean waaaaaay before Covid. Like 2006 back when I had some friends."
LoocsinatasYT
I miss the old days. Maybe we'll get back there.
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What do you believe?
Is there a GOD in the sky?
Is he guiding us and helping us?
Life is really hard. Why is that is a big entity is up there loving us?
Atheists have taken a lot of heat for what feels like shunning GOD.
What if they've been right all along?
Maybe let's take a listen and see what they really think.
Redditor __Jacob______ wanted to hear from the people who don't really believe all that "God" stuff. They asked:
"Atheists, what do you believe in?"
I'm waffling between G-O-D and nothing. So please give me some education.
911
"We need to look out for each other because help isn't coming."
cknipe
Peace Out
"More than 2 decades ago, a priest was giving a sermon in my church and he said 'our faith requires you to believe without question. Why call it faith if you have to ask questions?' I haven't returned to church. Not until my wedding day but you know what I mean."
asiangontear
Delusion
"When I was young I used to think that after death you would have access to a PC that you could see absolutely anything about your life. Stats, any question you had no matter how obscure, replays of moments, perspectives of others in relation to you. No matter what you wanted to know, if it was relatable to you, you could see it. I know it's silly, but as time goes on I just want it to be real, and I don't think I'd have any issue allowing myself to fall into that delusion."
eggwardpenisglands
I think nothing happens...
"Realistically, I think nothing happens. We literally experience nothing after death. Same thing that we experience before birth. We don't exist, so it's nothing. I think the tenant that we should follow while living is to try to be happy and healthy while minimizing the damage we do to each other."
"What I would LIKE to happen after death is whatever you believe in, exists. I think Christians should get to go to heaven if they truly believe in it, Hindus and Buddhists get reincarnated, and everyone else also gets to experience what they believe they will experience."
"'I would still experience Nothing. Maybe it's one of those things where at the moment of death their brain makes them experience what feels like an infinitely long moment in time where they experience their afterlife. I just think it would be neat for everybody."
Better_Meat_
Shrug
"Best advice I received from a dear senior on their way out. 'You win some, you lose some' shrug. Nothing divine, life is that simple and wonderful, accept it and move on."
Tune_Kindly
It all sounds pretty simple. Why are people so up in arms about Atheists?
Whatever
"I believe in a universe that doesn't care, and people that do."
imCIK
Cool with Empty
"Nothing. [Serious]."
rumblingtummy29
"I feel this way about death. When I was 5, my grandfather died and my cousin simple said, he is dead, that means you are gone forever. Everything ends up dying, even plants and animals. I'm now in my 40's and still have this simplistic view of life and death. People think I'm ambivalent to life and death but it's just what it is."
thepigfish82
puppet-masters...
"I think a lot of religious people struggle with the fact that we are all just swirling units of chaos. There is no grand plan or great orchestrator. I think that’s why people who are prone to religion are also susceptible to things like Q anon and the Cabal and all that. They REALLY want to believe that there is some almighty puppet-master who determines all of humanity’s fate."
Lngtmelrker
“we’re living in a society!”
"Just be a kind and empathetic person not because you’re worried about some cosmic justice, but because it’s the right thing to do. If there is some being that created us there’s no way they actually care about believing in it or adhering to some rules from over 2000 years ago."
"Also a big thing for me is that I find the idea that you need religion or the Bible in order to have morals and ethics pretty dumb. It’s pretty f**king clear that most evangelicals have neither. But my main thing is being a good person simply because, as George Costanza once said we’re living in a society!' If you’re only a good person in order to make it to heaven you probably aren’t actually a good and moral person."
conservative_genius
That's All
"You're born. You live. You die. That's it. After you die you cease to exist, the same as before you were born."
serefina
Believe what you want. We're all here together. So let's focus there.
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The list of what irritates me is endless.
I mean... breathing too loud or dust can set me off.
I'm a bit unstable, yes.
But I'm not alone.
So let's discuss.
Redditor Aburntbagel6 wanted to hear about all the times many of us just couldn't control our disdain. They asked:
"What never fails to piss you off?"
I feel like this article can go on forever. Let's get some highlights.
Wasted Time
"Meetings that could and should have been an email."
Sirena609
Lotto People
"Getting stuck behind people playing the lottery at a corner store."
thenuggetlover
"I also used to work in a gas station and you’re SO right. I f**king hated the lottery people. Especially since my store had a small staff and there was usually only one of us working at a time, which meant that I couldn’t get any of my other work done as long as they were there."
"And you’re right, it’s also pretty sad to watch. I had one lady who used to come in every day and spent hundreds and HUNDREDS of dollars on scratch tickets. One day, she won $200 after spending probably around $600 and she was so excited and saying she can 'finally pay her bills.'"
i-am-your-god-now
Aware...
"No situational awareness. Job, home, shopping, driving. Think for one minute and go about. OBSERVE!!"
Dizzy-Foundation8122
"My mom is one of those people who leave the shopping cart in the middle of the damn aisle and proceed to walk twenty feet away. After correcting her a million times to no effect I just walk away now so people don’t know I’m with her."
OutrageousEvent
Shut Up!
"Endless barking in the middle of the night, I love animals but that sh*t I can't stand."
Acceptable-Lemon2924
"Endless barking in general drives me up a wall. One of my friends dogs was barking almost an entire gaming session the other day. I wanted to reach through the computer and smack him for letting it go on."
bangersnmash13
Kindness
"People being mean to service workers, especially if the workers are very young."'
scaryboilednoodles
All of these things. I hate them all.
Admit It
"People who never accept fault when they mess something up. Like, why blame a million people when it was clearly you who did it???"
Quirky-Area-8978
From Above
"My upstairs neighbors."
lutzow89
"I had terrible neighbors at my previous apartment. It was a one person studio for students, but her boyfriend was clearly living with her illegally and he was loud."
"One night we knocked n the door at 3 AM because of the loud music and an unknown girl opened the door. I just thought they were having a little party. But the next door I saw the girl living there come home with a suitcase after having been away for the weekend... Her BF was cheating on her in her own apartment."
Th3_Accountant
Move Away
"People who sit directly next to me at the airport, movie theater, any other place where you can choose a seat when there is PLENTY of other seating."
BacardiPardy33
"I can’t YES this enough and the ones who can’t park for crap so they park so close you can’t open doors on one side of the car or the ones who park directly behind when you pulled through so the door won’t open to load groceries."
BacardiPardy33
It's Over
"People who try to restart old drama. Like I'm done with you, just leave me alone."
Tired_Potatos
"Yep, half the reason I've basically quit playing one of my favorite online video games. People keep bringing old crap up or sh*tting on on someone who used to be our friend. I got tired of it so I just ejected the game out of me."
CaucasianHumus
AHHHHH!!!
"People walking too slow in front of me with no way to get around them. It’s even worse if it’s a couple or group taking up the whole sidewalk. HAVE SOME SPATIAL AWARENESS FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!"
_-v0x-_
Life in general pisses me off. I'm easy.
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