When my boyfriend and I said I love you the other day, it turns out we’d both been thinking about it for a while. Being my 1st love, it felt so strange at first having finally said it! But it feels so good being able to be open about how much I care about him.

What surprised me is that, somewhat naively I suppose, I thought “love” would feel like the crazy, emotional rollercoaster 1st stages of a relationship. But when I finally realized I loved him, it was the long-lasting, deep, caring side I was thinking of. I guess the crazy part is infatuation. Which has turned into love :)

I guess it might be different for others whose relationships aren’t based on friendship, but we were purely friends for 6 months before we started going out, so we had a solid base for the relationship beforehand. But this is what love is like for me anyway.