When you love someone, there are always little things about them—gestures and mannerisms that they might not even notice—that will make your heart swell with affection.
When I think back to the people that I was in love with, it's not their Big Five personality traits that stick out so much as tiny details, like the way their brown strands of hair fell just over the rim of their glasses, or the way they shook the watches on their wrist when they were nervous.
The phenomenon isn't limited to romantic partners either. Whenever my dad makes the same stupid joke about opening up a bottle of wine ("A very familiar sound") or my roommate complains about the pigeon poop on the windowsill ("They've got us surrounded"), it never fails to remind me of just how much I love them. In many ways, that's what love is—an affectionate acknowledgment of the unique traits that make another human being so special.
On Wednesday, novelist Rachel Griffin asked people to tell her "something random about a person you love that makes you smile every time you think of it." Her personal example?
"Whenever my husband sees a dragonfly, he watches in amazement and says in a tone of respect, 'They're such accomplished fliers.'"
Soon, the responses flooded in. Like this Twitter user who only recently realized that the reason her microwave always stopped at two seconds was because her husband didn't want to wake her up while he was making breakfast.
Or this woman who finds it super cute when her mother mixes up common brands (my dad does the same thing, and whenever he refers to "chickpeas" as "cheesepeak," it never fails to make me smile).
This mom loves it when her otherwise surly teen lights up upon seeing a dog.
Apparently, this is a theme.
This woman smiles whenever she sees the Eiffel Tower because of the one time that her dad called her from it so she could "be there" with him and her mother.
My dad called me from the top of the Eiffel Tower when he and my mom went to Paris. He said it was so I could be there with them. I smile every time I see a photo of the Tower now because of that moment.
— Seege (@SeegeVega) December 6, 2018
And this Twitter user finds it hopelessly sweet that her husband only sings along to a song when he's about to change the station.
In a double-whammy, this woman loves that her dad hums a little song when he's not sure he's going the right way and that her husband uses the same voice with their kids as he does with adults.
my dad hums a little song when he's driving and is unsure about whether he's going the right way
my husband speaks to kids in the same tone of voice & using the same vocabulary with which he would speak to an adult, like: "interesting, jack; tell me more about sponge bob" — Kate Clayborn (@kateclayborn) December 6, 2018
And this Twitter user finds it adorable that her husband buttons every other button first and then goes back to fix the ones in between.
This woman can't get over the fact that her nephew asked to take his little sister to kindergarten to show her off immediately after she was born.
The second my nephew met his little sister, still in the hospital, he asked if he could take her to kindergarten to show her off. ❤ https://t.co/JMZLQznW8q
— Carolina 🎄🎁🎅 (@wutheringreads) December 7, 2018
And then there are the rituals that you share with someone you love that make you love them even more.
I can text a random movie quote at my daughter, and she'll immediately follow up with the next line of the movie. We have entire conversations this way. lol https://t.co/COVSWRE4BP
— Rhonda Merwarth / Delilah Gray (@RhondaMerwarth) December 6, 2018
It's not just humans either. Some people shared the things that theit pets do that make them feel overwhelmed with affection.
So if you're looking for proof that love does, in fact, exist in bounds, you can read the entire thread.
And for more proof that love is real, don't miss these amazing "how we met" stories that will melt your heart.
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