Redditor William3356 asked:
"How did you and your SO meet?"
I love the beginning of a love story.
Make me believe it's possible.
Looking Good
pennywise it 2017 GIFGiphy"I was drunk, walking in the road on the way to a pub, dressed as a clown. He was sober and on his way home from work. (It was Halloween)."
SlowDevice420
"My favorite part of this is the clarification that it was Halloween as if it’s there are other times you may be dressed as a clown. but this is so cute!"
NoFlounder90
And there she was...
"Totally random. I was jetskiing at a lake with a buddy. There was a big group next to us that was having an office party. They invited us over to share some shade and food. My wife showed up a bit later. She was nice and I invited her and her friend to go mountain biking with a big group of my friends the following weekend."
"I was not looking for a girlfriend at the time, but that is how things work. We started dating a few weeks later and our 21st anniversary is next month. I was 35 and she was 36 when we got married and neither of us had been married before."
Caspers_Shadow
Hair Issues
"Worked at the same prison together. I hated him. He hated me. We worked separate shifts then we got put on the same shift together. One day I showed up with a super short new haircut and he asked me 'Wtf did you do to your hair?' And I said 'Me? Wtf did you do to YOUR hair?'"
"And suddenly he found me attractive and the more I was mean to him, the more he liked me. Eventually, some hardships happened and he was the first to immediately extend a hand and help me and I saw the soft sweet side of him and I came around."
Chemical_Reality4606
8 years later...
"Online cos I don't have any friends and he had no luck with women in bars/clubs. Put him off for 3 weeks, asked my mom to check him out to see if she approved of him, she did, told my dad gently (just got out a baaaad relationship) and we met in a park and sat and chatted under cherry Blossom trees for 2 hours. 8 years later still kicking and can't imagine life without him now."
deandraws26
Cherish
madonna cherish GIFGiphy"Just moved to a new part of town, had no friends but saw a group of people at the skatepark. I decided to sit near them with hopes that they might talk to me (I always had a hard time meeting people/making friends)."
"I was 15 at the time and my now wife saw me alone and invited me to hangout with her group. I made great friends and gained years of incredible memories that I cherish to this day. I'm 23 now, we just celebrated our 4th anniversary, and just got married a week ago and couldn't be happier."
PapaPunk17
The Tag Along
Giphy"My cousin's wedding. She was a friend of another cousin who tagged along. We had 15 good years together before she passed away unexpectedly from a heart defect."
allen_idaho
"I met my boyfriend at a my cousin's wedding as well. I am sorry for your loss. May you find comfort in the memories."
wrapped-in-rainbows
Weddings are always a love match breeding ground.
Bountiful...
Reel It In Jay Buhner GIF by Northwest MotorsportGiphy"Technically a blind date! We met on Plenty of Fish but neither of us had a profile picture for one reason or another. We decided to meet up less than 24 hours after first chatting but without sending each other a photo first. We fell in love as soon as we saw the other that first time and we've never left each others side since!"
Gothic_Chaotic
When in Honky Tonk
"20 + years ago in a Honky Tonk back in Texas her cousin was talking to my best friend I asked her to dance she told me no. This is how our conversation started and we talked all night long I asked her to dance again she said yes and the Lights came on. I never got to dance with her that night but I did get her number. I knew the minute I met her I was going to marry her. I had never felt like that before. We are still married and she is my best friend."
txbbqdude
The Greatest
"Met through mutual friends on a camping trip, her smile was the greatest thing I had ever seen. New life goal: make this girl laugh and smile as much as possible. Now I have a picture at my desk of her doing both, while smashing a piece of our wedding cake into my face."
Ioapqjz
In Motion
Season 2 Dancing GIF by The Fresh Prince of Bel-AirGiphy"She saw me dancing and decided to get a piece of that action. 30 years later we still go dancing."
scalzi
Dancing is always the way to a heart.
Do you have any amazing "meet cute" moments with your significant other? Let us know in the comments below.
Redditor adambier1587asked:
"People who married their 'better than nothing' option, how’s your marriage going?"
Still Time
"My wife said 'so far so good' but it's only been 35 years so there is still time for change if needed."
Netman-
black and white love GIFGiphy22 Years
"I feel like we may have both settled because we had a child together, but 22 years in and he’s a better partner than I could have ever dreamed."
armsinstead
"Definitely everything up to the ‘but’ with my wife, things have been good at best and poor recently. Living together before helped some, but damn I underestimated or was decidedly oblivious to the necessity of having a similar level of intelligence, even more so than common ground, for long-term happiness."
Away_Reaction_1628
Give it a shot...
"A coworker got married to their 'better than nothing' six or seven years ago. It was one of those things where both people settled since they were getting older and I guess they figured they'd give it a shot. They went from single to married in eight months."
"Apparently as time went on it only got better for them."
"They both started actively trying to better themselves (seeing therapists, picking up healthy solo hobbies) and learned how to best communicate with each other over that time. They're both in their early 50s now and they act like a happy younger couple whenever we're at work events. It's kinda cool to see."
"Pretty mundane but I wanted to share one that I know that worked out."
Justicles13
Obsessed
"So my marriage is not 'better than nothing,' but I was also never obsessed with my wife the way I have been obsessed with a new person before. Part of the reason I was willing to marry her was because we communicated well, worked with each other to improve each other's lives, and we generally enjoy many of the same things while still retaining who we are individually. The biggest thing is that we both felt physically and emotionally safe with each other."
"I am now obsessed. I love my wife more than I have ever loved anyone."
Xannin
knocking my socks off...
"I think the way you worded this implies that the relationship was shi**y to begin with. I married someone I considered kind of a settle at first. I hadn't had a relationship in over a year and met a girl at a bar and thought, 'she's pretty enough and I like being around her.'"
In Love Hearts GIF by SpongeBob SquarePantsGiphy"The thing is, we grew together and I have a very successful and happy marriage despite her not initially knocking my socks off. I think I fit your comments intent but I'm not sure because at no point in our relationship was it so bad I didn't want to be in the relationship anymore."
"I guess what I'm saying is if my story matches your intent, then it can work out. If you meant marrying into a toxic relationship, I don't think you're going to get many success stories."
MrPopo72
So the end can be different from the beginning. Good to know.
It was devastating...
"I think I am the better than nothing spouse. About a month ago I found out. It was devastating."
Sad Rabbit GIF by Muffin & NutsGiphy"For 17 years she settled for me despite not truly loving me. Life was hard but we had each other or so I thought. The moment we talked about how bad things got she asked for a divorce and I lost my best friend and sole person who I felt I trusted enough to talk to. I move out tomorrow to rebuild my life."
Kierik
The Turning Point
"I don't know if this is exactly what you're after, but my husband and I got together as single parents. When you do that, you're choosing as much for the kids as for you. You actually don't know what kind of couple you are on your own. And when the kids grew up, after over a decade together, we had to figure that out for the first time."
"It started out good for maybe the first 4-5 years, then went really rocky in the kid's teens. Turns out as they needed us less, we really didn't have enough common ground in a lot of ways - in particular, I had emotional and emotional-labour needs that weren't being met."
"We discussed divorce several times, but at our peak crisis point, decided to work on it because one of our kids had just had a bereavement (death of the other parent). And honestly, it still wasn't working that well and maybe still would have ended in divorce, but then I had a terrible work situation that lasted a year, and he really stepped up."
"That was the turning point. I was able to let go of my resentments about all the times I'd carried us, because at some point he'd done enough that I didn't feel baited-and-switched anymore. Then the kids grew up and we had to learn to be a couple on our own together."
"That took time, but we'd sort of grown and changed into a better match by then. We're really solid now, have been for probably the last five years or so. But it's been a team endeavour to get it that way and keep it there, it's not something that just happens."
nurseynurseygander
Love & Loss
"Was married for 10yrs, got 2 kids out of it and some of the happiest years of my life. We both pretty much settled for each other. Eventually both concluded that we just weren't right for each other and cut it off but I don't have any regrets about it. Without her I definitely would have been one of the people out there that are forever alone. So I definitely would agree with the 'better to have loved and lost' saying."
FerretsAteMyToes
Option in my 30's
"I married my 'better than nothing' option in my 30s. We both understood what we had waited for and committed ourselves fully to the marriage. Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I had married my 'preferred option' and I realize that the love I feel from the person I married is so much better than the 'preferred option' would have been."
"I never did convince the preferred option to date me, while the woman I'm married to now found me easy to love. In other words, my romantic self is an idiot and my better than nothing was actually better than everything."
eileyle
42
"My parents got married because they were considered old in their church (they were 26 and 24…) and they both wanted kids. My mom told me that is was the practical thing to do, haha! Luckily they hit it off, and though it took a lot of time and work, they are annoyingly in love and have been married for 42 years next month."
Islanduniverse
in love kiss GIFGiphySo good enough can turn into the perfect choice.
Good to know...
Love and marriage, what a combo. I ask all the time... what are the secrets? How do make love endure? I need to be ready. Should I ever live long enough to love.
Rules
Reese Witherspoon Mom GIF by HULUGiphy"Only the couple sets the rules of what their marriage is, not your mother, not your friends, not tv... just you. That actually applies to all relationships."
Alone Again
"Getting married doesn't mean that you're never going to feel lonely again."
"Feeling lonely doesn't necessarily mean because of issues with your partner. They can't be your only source of companionship. A lot of people have this misconception though, so glad you shared it."
"Yeah that's what I was trying to say. People still need friendships and other relationships outside of just with their spouse. They can't take care of every emotional need you have. I've known many people who ignore those outside relationships when they get married and later regret it."
Life Changes
"My marriage was stretched the absolute thinnest when we welcomed both our kids - take a complete life change, add in lack of sleep, hormones, an upended schedule and a million other things and it will strain even the strongest relationship. Because we were good going into it, we were even better coming out."
"If you have any kind of cracks in your relationship, bringing a newborn into it will quickly make them chasms. I have to laugh when people say they'll have a baby to "save the relationship" because I can't think of a faster way to end a floundering relationship than to bring a baby into it!"
My Poor Sister
"My sister's marriage. Her MIL had a ridiculous amount of control over things and her husband didn't want to be in the middle so he would plug his ears and walk away. When my sister finally told her MIL that what she was doing was disrupting and causing problems in her (my sister) family, the MIL sat there dumbfounded and asked "why would any of this upset your brothers and sisters?"
"She just could not grasp the fact that my sisters family was her husband and kids and rolled her eyes when she was told that. Since her husband never stood up, and in some cases would actively back his mom because he didn't want to upset her, it eventually drove them apart. Now they never talk unless they have to and the kids are all but estranged from their dad and grandparents."
Unsolved...
Nbc Marriage GIF by This Is UsGiphy"Getting married WILL NOT help solve any issues in your relationship."
So far that is sound advice. And it all sounds pretty basic. So why do so many marrieds make it such an arduous task? This is starting to sound like lessons in keeping it simple.
Like Count
Schitts Creek Yes GIF by CBCGiphy"Liking your partner is just as important if not more than loving them."
People Share The Most Selfless Thing They've Ever Secretly Done | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
Take Care
"Being married 20 years, I'm guilty of it sometimes too, but being in a long term relationship like that just makes you an expert on your own relationship. Not on relationships in general. We can sometimes forget that, just because it works well in our own life, doesn't mean it will work for others."
"When you're a young couple, dozens of older couples are going to tell you what works for them. The best thing to do is understand that it's coming from a place of caring, and some will be good advice, but you've got to just find what works for you."
"check with my husband"
"Talk to your partner before you make decisions. I can't even tell you how much crap I get from my single friends when I tell them I'll "check with my husband" before agreeing to do something. Usually it's just to make sure we don't have something else going on that I forgot about, or maybe he wanted to do something and I haven't brought it up."
"It's not asking permission, it's being conscientious of your partner. It's especially true if you have kids. No, I don't ask my husband to "babysit", but it would be pretty sh*tty for me to just say "oh hey, I'm going out tonight. Have fun with a couple toddlers by yourself and with no notice!" And he treats me with the same respect."
- IAmZot
Sleep on it...
"When we first married, an older person told us to never go to bed angry. We dutifully followed that advice for a few years. But a couple of years into our marriage, we were up still arguing about something at 2 AM. Finally we just went to bed angry after agreeing to discuss the problem in the morning. By the next morning we both realized we'd both just been tired. Well-rested the next day the problem just didn't seem as big a deal. For us at least… sometimes we just need to sleep on it."
Things to do...
mountain GIFGiphy"Have things you enjoy doing with your spouse that don't involve sex. The most stable marriages are ones where you and your spouse could be friends if you weren't married. Goes for dating too, IMO."
"butterflies in your stomach"
"I like my husband the most out of all the people I know. Even if I didn't have romantic feelings for him, I'd want to be friends with him because he's the freaking coolest. Like if I never knew him, and tomorrow I met an eighty year old man with his same personality, I would wanna hang out with that old man. We've been together for more than a decade, and while the "butterflies in your stomach" feeling comes and goes, there's always a baseline level of like that makes spending time with him worthwhile."
Maintain
"You still need to maintain the things that made you, you before marriage. My wife and I have very different tastes in a lot of things and we never pretend to like it for the sake of the other person but also will not actively discourage those tastes either. I like hardcore and punk music. My wife likes bubblegum pop country."
"She thinks I listen to just noise and I think most of her stuff is shallow mass produced garbage but we agree to disagree and understand different flavors. Our friends are into different activities and we understand sometimes you gotta go have fun with those other people in your life and have some you time."
Travel
Driving Road Trip GIF by The WigglesGiphy"Go on a road trip together. Travel together before marriage. Close quarters and tough situations will give you insights into who that other person is."
Slow Down
"Do not rush into marriage, and make sure you have multiple serious talks about everything (few examples: religion, family, friends, goals for near future, goals for future, plan for kids, lifestyle, housing, retirement). The reason I say multiple talks is because people grow or change the longer they are with each other."
- Jim105
Make a List
- "Talk about whether you want kids before things get serious.
- Finances are something you manage together. It isn't something you cede to one spouse for whatever reason. I say this as someone who had to teach my dad how to use an ATM and the online banking site after my mom died.
- It's your relationship. It's something that belongs to you two. No one else.
- Adult up. Both partners need to take in the mental load of managing the house." - ConnieLingus24
Tomorrow
"Focus on your marriage and not just on the wedding. And decide whether a fight is worth having - if it doesn't matter tomorrow does it really matter today."
"Be careful with this one though, sometimes things don't matter tomorrow but they could matter the next time the same scenario comes up. So it's still important to discuss. But in those cases I still like to wait till I'm over it to bring up how we could manage to not piss each other off next time. Fail-safes for when we're not our most considerate, which is often. lol"
Get your own...
"It's okay to use separate blankets. No one likes to wake up with cold butt cheeks because the other person "stole" the blanket!"
"After 12 years of marriage, my wife and I upgraded to a split king bed last year (we always had separate blankets). One of the best things we've done. It's had 0 effect on our sex life, and we both sleep way better than either of us did for years. It's kinda fun to walk up to the bed, hit "flat" on both remotes while winking at her."
Keep on keepin' on...
"Attraction comes and goes, but staying committed through it will really help you feel accepted and loved. Often the attraction differential doesn't kick in during dating."
"I'll add- marry someone you like > love. That romantic feeling is an emotion that waxes and wanes with time. Truly enjoying someone aside from intimate stuff is what makes up 99% of the time of the relationship."
- love2go
Fly
Butterflies GIF by smecceaGiphy"Once the butterflies go away it is your job to create butterfly moments."
Good Times
"I have been married over 30 years. I would estimate only 25 of those years has been happily married. There will be crappy times possibly years. Wait it out unless it's abuse. People are often unhappy at work or something like that and leave their partner instead of dealing with the true problem. Your spouse should be the one you lean on to get through the outside noise not the first one you blame."
Maybe it's easier just to stay single. I'm so gloomy. But I will hold onto this thread just in case. Oh marriage, why can't it just be perfect?
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Being a divorce lawyer has go to be an entertaining career. I hope they all keep a journal, because any and all details could make for fascinating television. You change the names to protect the innocent or guilty.
Crumbs...
cookie monster eating GIF by University of CaliforniaGiphy"My father-in-law and mother-in-law's breaking point was when he threw a breadcrumb at her from across the kitchen. The divorce took 4 years to settle."
Transaction Done.
"A client and his wife came in regarding a real estate transaction. At the end of the consultation, the client casually stated that he would like to divorce his wife. I was stunned, the wife started crying, the client started rubbing his wife's shoulder and told her that everything would be okay. That was an awkward few minutes."
- rks1743
A Bad Lift
"The weirdest I've ever seen is a coworker of mine. His wife saw a picture of him at a pool when he was in high school and really athletic. Toned, muscular, tan and so on. Over the 10 year after high school he stopped lifting and lost his muscle tone and just became skinny."
"She told him she wanted him to get back to working out because she really liked the way he once looked and he said it was something he missed doing and agreed to get a gym membership. He was going to the gym four days a week but was only really working out for two of them."
"On the days he didn't work out he would sit in the sauna to get sweaty, watch Netflix and then go home. When she asked about him going to the gym and accidentally let it slip that he was fudging workouts twice a week. She apparently found that to be a deal breaker and filed for divorce."
Avatars
"I had a client who with his wife were into a computer game like the Sims only more x rated, I think it was called Second Life, where you have an avatar and can interact with other people's avatars. He suspected his wife of, through her avatar, hijinks and made his own avatar to stalk her in the game. Sure enough her avatar was doing the dirty with some dude's avatar. That was it for my client."
Oh Hell No
Pop Tv No GIF by Schitt's CreekGiphy"The husband kept putting wet/used towel on their bed."
- automind
See these stories keep me sane when I feel lonely. Who in the world needs this kind of madness? This is why I say love can never be fully trusted.
And wet towels on my bed? You're out!
Oh Sacha
Sacha Baron Cohen Thumbs Up GIF by Amazon Prime VideoGiphy"Pam Anderson and Kid Rock simply put 'Borat' as the reason for their divorce. I'd say thats gotta be up there."
Tubed
"Wife wanted divorce like 2 months into marriage because the husband would squeeze the toothpaste from the top and not bottom. She claims to have told him a million times over to stop. Would have been easier to get 2 tubes of toothpaste I thought."
People Share Which Social Norms Absolutely Baffle Them | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
"My wife and I had been using the same toothpaste tube for I dunno 20 years or something. Recently, we had two tubes because I accidentally bought the wrong one. No big, I said she can use the good one and I'll use the crappy one. So after about a week of this, I notice my toothpaste was gross. The opening was half clogged and there was run off into the cap. I had to scrap the crust off just to get to the fresh toothpaste. Next week, same thing. Gross."
"Turns out my wife had been maintaining the toothpaste tube correctly for years! I had no idea that I dispensed paste in a sloppy stupid way. So I asked my wife how to use a freakin' toothpaste tube. Lol... I think I got it mostly right by the time my crappy toothpaste ran out and it was time to go back to shared paste. 😂"
Last Straw
"Nobody ever believes me about this one, but it's true. A man wanted a divorce from his wife because - and he gave this example as the "last straw" - his wife ate those nasty pumpkin Halloween candies, like candy corn but pumpkin shaped. He had been looking forward to them all day and when he got home, she had eaten them all. He snapped. Swear on my life this story is true."
- Brkiri
Empty
"Definitely the fridge Story!! A woman filed for divorce because her husband would eat everything he can find in their fridge whenever the wife was out for work. So she came back to a basically empty fridge each night. He also cheated on her but she was less angry about that. The fridge was what pushed her to the point she wanted a divorce."
Plan for 5...
real housewives of orange county divorce GIFGiphy"I'm a lawyer but not that kind. However, my brother's 4th wife divorced him because she found out the ring he'd used was originally his 3rd wife's. They deserved each other."
Got to BK!
"Not a lawyer- but apparently my brother divorced his wife when McDonald's forgot to put bbq sauce in with her chicken nuggets at the drive through and she asked him to go back and get some. He didn't and then I guess she started smashing up food and throwing it at him/out the window... so yeah. McDonalds how could you ruin a marriage 😅..."
The Good China
"My Mom's coworker divorced over dishes in the dishwasher. The wife would get so frustrated over the husband (coworker) not rinsing dishes before he loads them in the dishwasher. To compromise, they bought a super nice, top of the line dishwasher. Solves the problem, right? She yelled about the dishes that night. He filed for divorce the next day."
Never Florida!
Looney Tunes Florida GIFGiphy"I once had clients who got a divorce because she wanted to buy a condo in Naples, Fl. The petty part of the story is that combined their lawyer fees would have bought a very nice condo on the water in Naples."
- rpf0525
For the tots...
"My aunt used to work as a divorce lawyer. The worst one was a couple fighting over a hamster (of which took so long the thing died before they were settled). She said it was a bargaining chip to win favor from their children. At that rate just buy another hamster!"
"My ex was like this. Basically gave him everything just so I could leave him. He took most of the money and assets but I got away from him. Yay. Then he blew all his money and abandoned the kids. Seriously struggled to cope with 100% care and cost but wouldn't change it bc I have my kids and they have me. Still, was very hard to come to terms with the injustice. Sigh."
Hey Neighbor
"A woman came in wanting to divorce her husband. He had just gotten a new job and a pretty big raise. It turned out that this new job of his also required that he work from home but he was working in an office before. She was having an affair with their next-door neighbor and him being home more meant that she couldn't cheat on her husband easily. That was definitely a twist. I was expecting something like him being the one having the affair but nope!"
Told you so...
"Not divorced, but annulled on their wedding day. I've told the story a few times on Reddit, so long-story-short-time: She told him several hundred times that if he smashed the cake in her face at the reception, it was over. He did it, she walked out and had it annulled the next day. This was over 30 years ago, btw."
- dramboxf
Oh Dear...
"Someone's husband insisted on bringing their mother to their honey moon. That's when the wife realized his mother was still breastfeeding him. I don't think it was a petty divorce but I think the man is petty. He also made his mom go to court with him, my guess, he was thirsty."
- NoJoke24
in my face...
snow wtf GIF by Robert E BlackmonGiphy"Dandruff. Wife didn't like that the husbands dandruff would flow into her face when riding a motorbike."
- Why-M4
Being Hoagied
"The husband could only eat hoagies if they were nailed to a table. So they mostly ate at home where it was ok for him to damage a table. But once time during a roadtrip stopped at a deli. He had the nailgun with him and nailed the hoagie to the table so he could eat. So she divorced him after the vacation."
Ah love, so splendid, so pure. So insane. I'll always hope for a happy ending, but will always stay vigilant and try to not freak about the small things. Maybe that's the key to a happy ending?
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