Love is an incredibly difficult thing to describe and to understand. Though grandiose serenades and public shows of affection are wonderful in fairy tails, it is often odd things—subtle personality traits, little acts, and even moments of unity that come out of intense pain and sadness—that really make us fall in love with a person.
A number of couples recently took to Reddit and shared the seemingly unromantic events that ended up being extremely important for the progression of their relationships.
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You might need tissues for this one folks.
Clean Up
“I had a severe attack of gastroenteritis,” this woman writes, “it was coming out of both ends. So I’m lying in bed and I suddenly have to vomit so I try to run to the bathroom. I fail and proceed to vomit and poop all over the floor. He cleans me, the floor and the bathroom up. Tucks me back into bed with some water, gives me a kiss and strokes my greasy and tangled head till I fall asleep. Most unromantic scenario ever but he was there to help me get through it despite how gross it was.”
The Carrier
“My husband acted as the lone pallbearer for our newborn son’s funeral,” this woman shares. “I carried him for nearly his whole life and my husband carried him to his final rest.”
Face Your Fears
“When she took out a maggot that had burrowed under my skin,” one man writes. “She has a insect-phobia. Knew she was a keeper.”
Matters Of Head And Heart
“I have bipolar disorder and have had two episodes of psychotic mania and he has dealt with them like a champ, not just enduring them but getting me safely to the hospital and being totally understanding and loving about it,” one person writes. “I think that would really scare a lot of people, if not make them jump ship entirely. I think it’s a sign of my great trust in him that in the midst of being out of my mind with grandiose delusions, paranoia, etc. I heard him say ‘teawrit, we have to go to the hospital now’ and I believed him and went along with it.”
Cover Up
“I fainted in the shower, hit my head and was knocked unconscious,” one woman writes. “My husband called the ambulance. Because I was naked when I fainted, my husband dressed me while I was unconscious before the paramedics arrived.”
The Lot
“My SO puked in the parking lot on our first date. BEFORE we even got into the restaurant,” this person shares. “I thought she was having second thoughts because she just got out of a horrible relationship. Nope, she was on her period and it was bad enough where she would puke. We’re married now!”
Ninth Life
“About 2 months into my relationship with my husband, my cat that I had adopted a month before had to be put down,” one woman shares. “She was my very first pet and my first cat because my sister was incredibly allergic, so I had to wait until I moved out to get one.
“I was incredibly devastated. He was with me every step of the way. He stayed in the room with me while I held my cat and she was put to sleep. He drove me to get food at 3 am by the time the whole ordeal was over. He stayed up with me all night. It was a surreal night, but he helped me feel normal. That’s when I knew he was the one for me.”
What’s Mine Is Yours
“I didn’t have a job when we were first dating and he knew I was embarrassed that he had to pay my way for everything we did together,” this person shares. “If we were meeting other people he would hand me cash before we got out of the car so I could pretend I was paying for myself.”
Green Thumb
“I built my wife a garden box in the back yard for her birthday last year,” this man writes. “She’s been having trouble growing a big variety of vegetables but peppers seem to grow pretty well. I just ate a ghost pepper (well about 1/3rd of a pepper) she grew to cheer her up about it.”
Silver And Gold
“I had MRSA and my wound had to be packed with silver nitrate and wound tape to assure it didn’t close over before healing,” this woman shares. “That meant my relatively new boyfriend was 2x daily putting me in agonizing pain and first pulling blood and pus soaked packing material out of a hole in my arm, he was then ruthlessly shoving clean materials back in. I knew then he was the one. We’ve been happily married over 10 years now.”
Rain Or Shine
“I was on my way to get our kids from daycare after work one day and it was pouring,” this man shares. “My husband took the time out of his workday to show up at the daycare and get the kids in my car for me so I wouldn’t have to get out in the rain. The little things are the big things. 10/10 would marry again and again and again and again.”
Through It All
“He stayed,” this man writes, “through active alcohol addiction, and through my sobriety.”
Moving On Up
“Moved with me when I got into grad school,” this woman shares. “I experienced a crazy amount of stress, anxiety, and impostor syndrome my first semester and cried almost literally every day. My boyfriend was super loving and understanding when I would fall apart over little things, just crumbling with the stress of the new experiences. He would cook me dinner when I was exhausted, pick me up from class every day, and most helpfully he would just let me vent. Such a champ, love that guy.”
Ups And Downs
“Probably when she talked me down from a panic attack when we were trapped in an elevator and the next day when I talked her down from one as we down-climbed a mountain,” this woman writes. “We were at our worst, most scared, totally lost and afraid…and the other was there. It’s why I’ve know I’ll marry her since our first date.”
Carry Me With You Always
“I donated a kidney to him,” this woman shares, “then when his wound wouldn’t close four weeks later, I packed and dressed it twice a day while trying not to make it obvious that the smell was making me gag. You do what you gotta do!”
Stumble And Fall
“I’m a really clumsy person (mostly due to my disability) so I’m used to people getting rather upset when I knock stuff over, spill things, break things, etc,” this person writes. “I was on the couch with my boyfriend and we were having a deep and serious conversation. I moved my arm out to stretch and ended up spilling an entire can of Dr Pepper all over him, the couch, and the floor. I braced myself for upset but he just went ‘I love you. Don’t worry about it. Let’s clean it up together.’ That was the first time he said ‘I love you’ and the biggest indication that he was a keeper.”
The Bottle
“Really bad postpartum depression when our third child came along,” one woman writes. “My husband would take care of all the kids, feed me, help me pump milk, he woke up for nights to take care of all of us, cooked, cleaned, did laundry and kept up with 2 other toddlers at home.”
Peace And Love
“My husband and I often end up showering together,” this woman shares, “One night as he was about to get in he said ‘never mind. I’ll clean up and get some food ready for you and let you shave your asshole in peace.'”
The King
“When my husband and I first got married we bought a king size bed and our own blankets,” this man shares, “Best decision we ever made. Saved us so much arguing. Some people I’ve told think it weird but I am free to cocoon in my blankets and he is free to only sleep under a sheet. Neither of us snore so it works well.”
Getaway
“We were actually on a romantic getaway weekend in the mountains. I was still breastfeeding at the time. Right as we were getting ready for dinner I had to break it to him that I had a plugged duct and it was threatening to ruin our whole night, if not the whole weekend,” this woman shares, “I was very uncomfortable and I was worried about getting mastitis. My man went to town on that boob and sucked the plug out. I can’t describe how awkward it is to breastfeed your own husband. But he had absolutely no qualms about helping me out.”
Spring Cleaning
“The second night we had overnight relations he sharted at 3am while we were fast asleep,” this woman shares, “Nothing like changing the sheets at 3am. We’re married now.”
Check-Up
“In the first months of dating during one of our first intimate encounters my partner stopped to point out a weird hard spot on one of my balls,” this man writes, “At the time it was a bit embarrassing but when I got diagnosed with cancer a few weeks later I was really grateful. We’ve been together for 8 years now.”
The Voice
“He stayed with me through my laryngeal cancer,” this person writes, “Through my permanent loss of my voice from it, through several surgeries, through several rounds of chemo and radiation, through my other tumors, and through me putting us into a colossal amount of debt from my medical bills.”
Go The Distance
“On about day three of dating, a family emergency came up and I needed a ride for a scheduled surgery,” this woman shares, “He didn’t hesitate. I was so nervous, I threw up in his car on the whole drive there. He held my hair back while he drive while I puked into a plastic bag. What a guy.”
Man’s Best Friend
“When my husband and I watch movies together, if animal shows up, he’ll pause the movie so I can check Does The Dog Die,” this woman writes, “If we find out there’s an animal death, when the scene comes up he’ll mute the TV and I’ll close my eyes and he’ll narrate/read the subtitles so I don’t miss out on the plot but I can avoid watching/hearing an animal death that would leave me too upset to focus on the rest of movie.”
The Tip
“I had a huge, painful pimple inside my ear that I couldn’t pop by myself, especially without being able to see it,” this guy shares, “He used Q-tips to pop it for me, and it shot pimple juice onto his face. But he was cool about it!”
Cute As A Button
“Wife was pregnant and near the end of it. Her belly button was really close to becoming an outie and she couldn’t see it,” this guy shares, “I made a comment about how it looked like there was some gunk inside of it so she asked me to clean it out. Spent the next few minutes with tweezers cleaning out her belly button.”
Apple Of My Fly
“We were at a park, and her eye was irritating her. I saw something black in her tear duct, and upon investigation, wound up pulling a huge fly out of her eye,” this man writes, “That was years ago, and since then, anytime either of us have to do something gross for each other, we cite the Eye Fly incident.”
Two Heads Are Better Than One
“Our first kiss was more like her headbutting me,” this girl shares, “And we still laugh about it today.”
Fever Dream
“My hubby proposed to me when I was sick,” this woman writes, “I said yes because I sent him with a list of stuff to get me because I felt like I was dying. I had a fever and just looked and felt hellish. He came back without half the stuff I asked for but with a bunch of stuff he thought I needed like fresh strawberries and juice. I’m lucky to have him.”
Dinner Is Served
“I made dinner and dropped it on the floor as I was serving it,” this woman shares, “I was really upset, until she was like oh well, and scooped it up and started eating.”
Smooth Ride
“I got my wisdom teeth out and my boyfriend brought me a smoothie because I couldn’t eat solids yet,” this person shares. “Probably looked disturbing trying to watch me eat it with a spoon lol. Also he watched me change my bloody gauze and still stayed with me even though I didn’t look the best.”
Love Is Patient
“When my SO and I first started dating I had a septum ring,” one person writes. “One of the first times we made out, my nose ring fell out and when we pulled away it had ended up in his mouth. Instead of getting grossed out he just handed it back to me, waited for me to put it back in and then continued kissing me.”
The Couch
“I have a now 12 year old daughter who is not biologically his, however she calls him Dad now and he always refers to her as his daughter,” one woman shares. “When she was about 10 he’d been moved in about 6 months we were settling in to things as a family. I was working and they were home hanging out and she got her first period.
“So he handed her some toilet paper, told her the basic girl trick of putting it in her underwear and took her to the store. He helped her pick out some pads, detoured to the ice cream, chocolate, chips and bakery section and picked up junior Advil just in case. They settled in on the sofa he explained the basics of how to use it.
“I came home to them having a nap on the sofa looking like a slumber party exploded and a happy child. Probably one of the moments I’ve love him the most.”
