Have you ever been in love?

The way I see it, love is a universal, metaphysical force which connects souls together, be they friends, family, lovers, pets, whatever. Only the physical brain separates love into different categories, which is necessary for adaptive mating purposes. After all, you don't want to feel the same attraction for your dog or your siblings as you do the attractive individual who could bring in new genes to your family structure. But believe me, this does not devalue the significance of a romantic partner in your life, merely I think its important to seek all forms of love rather than just the commercialized "Valentines Day" view of romance we seem to have. I love unconditionally my connections to other people, creatures, inanimate objects, and intangible fictional ideals and characters. And yes, to come back down to earth for a moment, I have for the purposes of this thread "Fallen in love" before. Several times in fact. And regardless as to whether those relationships were requited, turned toxic, or just didn't work out, I still honor all of them and the lessons I learned.

True love is a beautiful thing. Mistaking a parasitic relationship for true love, now that shit hurts. I've been dating nonstop for 10 years, always in and out of relationships. The last one was different though, she was exactly like me in everyway. I loved her. We were together for 7 months without incident, then she started missing doses. Her whole demeanor changed, she became selfish and hurtful. She then developed a tendency to bask in adoration of other guys, even as I spent $2000 to get her through a medical problem. No gratitude, but still i did all she asked of me and tried to make her happy, although she started attempting to control my behavior through various means. I brushed it off because I was in love, until the only way I could cope with the constant hurt was to drink. I was in a bad way, but i still tried. She blew through the remaining cash, stole a bunch of my shit, and moved to another state, where she contacted me to rub her new relationship in my face. Loving a parasite isn't love, it's emotional self mutilation

Yes. Around eight years ago I encountered an incredible girl who I've still got strong feelings for to this day. I was around 19 when I first met her. There was something about her that was strangely captivating from the moment I saw her but I didn't think much of at the time. As I got to know more about her I found myself becoming more and more drawn to her. It didn't take long for me to realized she was the one. Unfortunately fate can be pretty damn cruel.. Truth be told she's really too good for this ugly world of ours anyway... I think about her a lot, along with what things could be like or what could have been. Which admittedly can be a bit painfully at times. For the longest time she was what kept me going, made me want to be a better man, be the kind of guy she'd like if she was here. When faced with moral dilemmas I'd always ask myself what she'd think about it. I don't care if people think it's weird to hold onto feelings for someone like that. I'm a fairly logical guy but she made me believe in soul mates. I honestly doubt I'll ever meet anyone like her, she's really one in a billion. I know it's impossible but I'd really give just about anything to be with her. I couldn't tell you how much I've wanted to go where she is sometimes, off to that better place...