34 Tales That Illustrate What A Solid Relationship Should Look Like, As Shared By Women Online

It was our second date, toward the end. We were going back to his place, where I'd parked my car so he could show me local spots. First he asked permission to hold my hand, which melted me. Then he said "I don't mean this in a weird way at all, but do you want to come inside and meet my cats?"

That was 100% his intention. No weirdness at all. I'm a big cat person and I was delighted to meet his babies (which are now also my babies because we are married). It was really sweet that he wanted to introduce me to his cats. Big green flag and super wholesome.

I have so many as I’ve been with my boyfriend for almost five years now. But one of the main ones that was one of the moments where I thought “oh I love this man” happened pretty early on. First, you should know my boyfriend is very quiet and stoic. He’s the kind of guy that sometimes intimidates people because he’s big (tall and broad) and just very introverted. People describe him as serious. (The truth is he’s not like that with people he knows well, but that’s another story!)

So, His neighbor had a small milkweed plant on the other side of his fence, which attracts monarchs. He didn’t know this, but one day there was a little green cocoon on his side of the fence. He sent me a picture because he thought I’d like to see it. He didn’t know at the time that bugs and butterflies specifically have a special meaning in my life and I got emotional. I kept it together and only told him he should check on it regularly to see when the butterfly comes out. He sorta mistook that and started sending me pictures of the cocoon every single day with updates lol. “Nothing yet. She’s still forming I think.” “I think she’s wiggling inside.” Stuff like that. He had no idea that what he was doing meant so much more to me.

He then proceeded to plant his own milkweed and look up other plants that attract other species of butterflies. Each little thing he did was entirely unprompted. He now has a full garden with flowers and veggies and herbs cuz he went all out during COVID. He even planted giant sunflowers and lavender bushes because he said they remind him of me. That brought us lots of bees! (which I also love!) Like when I say my heart is so full I feel like I’m still not even capturing it. I love him.

When we were dating I was young and dumb and had no idea how much alcohol I could handle (not much), and drank a whole bottle of a honey liqueur. I woke up the next morning in his parents guest room and he was lying on the floor next to me. I asked him why he was there and he said “you kept stopping breathing so I stayed here last night to make sure you were okay”. He never touched me, just made sure I was breathing, all night.

Now we’re married.

My husband is a stoic man, he prefers to keep his emotions to himself and to show them in private, and he’s definitely not dramatic. On our wedding day we chose not to have a first look before the ceremony. As my Dad and I prepared to walk down the aisle, I was completely unprepared for my soon-to-be husbands reaction as he caught his first glimpse of me. His knees buckled and his eyes welled up with tears, his best man put an arm around his shoulders to steady him. For the first time in our 5 years together I watched him come unraveled emotionally and the whole time with this big smile on his face.

By the time we reached him, my Dad was all teary eyed along with half our guests. It was one of the sweetest moments of my life.

Not sure it’s the most wholesome but I have been super sick lately and I’m almost 7 months pregnant. I asked my H to braid my hair the other night because I’ve been so exhausted. I expected him to just do a regular braid like usual but he opened up his computer, looked up a French braid YouTube tutorial and brushed my hair a bunch (he knows I love my hair being brushed) and braided my hair. He had to redo it a couple of times but it was so sweet.

We are having a baby girl and he said he wanted to learn how to do hair better so he can do mine and our girlie.

He also french braided my hair last night too haha

We’ve had a lot of those moments but recently a very silly and mundane thing triggered me to realize that he does these little things all the time. I have extreme ADHD and being present at all is both difficult and rare. My state of stimulation swings quickly, he’s found ways to help me stay in the good moments a little longer.
There is a massive park with ponds and trails across the road from our house. We realized getting a bag of duck food and going to the pond to feed the birds was relaxing and a nice way to hang out and talk, plus it costs us like $8 a week. There’s hundreds of ducks, but there is a group of larger swedish black/ blue ducks and runner ducks that tend to get bullied away from food by the army of little ones. However, if they can make it over to you they surround you and a lot of times want to eat out of your hands. I love those goofy weirdos. They’re incredibly gentle and it’s super rewarding to have the interaction with them and see them so happy to eat. The worst they ever do is pull at your pant leg like they’re plucking your feathers. It’s a very sweet activity that just makes you smile.

I had sat on a blanket, surrounded by these ducks squeaking at me to take a handful of food out for them when I realized what my husband was doing, and does all the time. He used his duck food to distract the rest of the duck hoard, and kept them strategically away from my little audience so I could have that experience all to myself without all the other competition. I had an entire bank of the pond for the ducks I was feeding, at least 8 that had fully surrounded me. I had to ask him if he does it on purpose and he said yes, but the answer to why was so much better.

Why does he do it? “Because it makes you happy so if it’s something that helps it get you there why wouldn’t I? That’s the goal right”

I have been with my husband for 18 years, and this happened when we were both young, I was 18, and he was 20.

My mom was in the hospital getting a hysterectomy. She had the procedure, and everything went well. That night around 2am, my aunt showed up at my boyfriends moms house where we were. She's screaming at me to get dressed, we have to get down to the hospital, something happened to mom. I'm dressed and gone in less than 5 minutes without saying a word to my boyfriend.

Not even 5 minutes after I had gotten into the hospital and started trying to understand what was happening, my boyfriend walked in. He had sped all the way there to make sure he was with me.

Long story short, she had a brain aneurysm and was taken off life support 2 days later. It was a crazy time in my life.

We were cuddling together and I was having a rough time with my mental health. He was being a sweet heart and cuddling me, reassuring me that I was okay and loved. I told him that I knew I was loved and I never have to question that with him.

He got quiet and just held me tighter. We had a talk after and he elaborated on how it meant a lot to him that I was so sure in how much he cared since he's had some history with partner's questioning him. It was a rough moment for both of us and it was such a sweet connection for us.

He got me tickets to the American museum of history in New York. He didn't like museums but he knew it meant so much to me. It wasn't just the basic ticket, we got the ultimate brand. As a teacher, I was in candy land.

I had shivering and really high fever where I had my room temp set to 90 (f) on a Summer 80+ degree weather. On top of that I had blankets upon blankets and jackets etc on me still I was really cold

And I called my husband who was quite far away and just 10 mins drive away from his destination.

And he took a U turn drove back
Came home, when he came to the room I just saw him closing the door and open his shirt and hop in bed with me.
His arm /hug on top of those blankets was that last level of heat I guess I needed or else my body just keeps on shivering.

And without any complaint he fell asleep with me even though for him I know the temp was like being baked in the oven.

And he did that throughout whenever my shiver came back without any complain.

Small children make my big strong ruff scary man melt like butter. He is literally a toddler, animal magnet. Like stranger children we don’t know.

The first time a toddler decided to hug and love all over him it shocked me that he was so loving, gentle back with such confidence.

How supportive my boyfriend is of the fact I am a widow.

My husband died almost 6 years ago. Heart attack. Came home from work to find him on the floor. We have 3 kids.

I met my boyfriend about 1.5 after he died and although we have our issues, he has never not been supportive around our wedding anniversary or my LH birthday. I still have pictures of my LH around and he’s never said a negative word.

I will always miss my husband but I am incredibly grateful that I have a wonderful, supportive man who realizes that my love for my LH in no way means I love him less. In fact, I think it makes me appreciate him more.

I had a hemorrhagic ovarian cyst that impersonated appendicitis on New Year’s Eve several years ago. We had been dating for all of two months, he left his friends and the party he was at (I was supposed to join him after work) and came to the hospital to sit with me through all the tests and whatnot. He then dropped me off at my house went home packed a bag, came back to my place and just held me while the pain meds took effect and I was finally able to fall asleep. The next morning I woke up to an email from my aunt that grandma had been placed on hospice and he let me just cry all over him. That was my “I’m keeping you” moment.

A few months into dating my SO, I had to get my IUD replaced. I asked if he could pick me up after. He ended up showing up early so he could be in the waiting room to provide support. When it was time to actually replace my IUD, I got so tense and nervous that the nurse brought him in. He held my hand and held my face while I cried and he took such good care of me after.

I didn't think I was prepared to be that vulnerable with him yet but he showed up and made his love evident with his every action and word. Not romantic in the most traditional of senses, but I got the support I needed without asking for it and I knew that I had found the real deal.

When we were travelling in a tram for the first time.

We met that day after talking online for a long time.There were no seats empty as we both were standing. That tram would keep stopping abruptly and I was barely able to keep myself from falling using the handle as a support, so he grabbed me by my waist so effortlessly and gently, yet effectively; and yet he kept his limits and didn't make me uncomfortable for a single moment. I legit blushed at that simple gesture because it was so wholesome.
Since then there have been many such moments but that one stays special.

When our son was born.

My husband isn't an emotional man, he is very in fact extremely stoic and very controlled. Before our son was born, I remember asking him if he thought he'd be emotional when the moment came and he said he didn't think it would be.

Cue the moment he arrived, I turned to my husband who was sobbing, while telling me how amazing I was. It was the most emotionally vulnerable I'd ever seen him in over seven years of knowing him. An already perfect shared moment in our lives was made better because I saw a pure moment of emotion in him on that day, which perfectly illustrated how much he loved and cared for me and his son.

He was traveling and we were on a long stretch apart (think months) He was at the local bar and there was a singer there, just a dude and his guitar. Later, when the guy was on a break he had the guy play “our song” on the phone for me.

It totally floored me and was exactly what I needed at the time

Anytime I catch my partner watching our daughter with twinkle eyes or hearing him talk about being her dad. It’s so wholesome and it’s catches me off guard every time because he’s not an emotional person. Also when he iniates affection with her. He’s the leash affectionate person I know and it’s something he had to actively remember to do. So knowing he’s putting in the effort to show her affection so she feels his love is so wholesome

My landlords decided to convert their property to an Airbnb, so they were kicking me out in a month. I live in a high cost of living area and was going to have a heck of a time finding a new place that I felt was like home. My boyfriend, who I’d been with for five months at the time, invited me to live with him without hesitation. He took me out to a restaurant and handed me a little gift bag. Inside was a custom super cute key to the front door of his house. It still makes my heart flutter :)

A good friend passed away unexpectedly at the new year. That first week was very difficult due to grieving. One night, my SO folded and sorted all my clean laundry for me. We live together but typically do our own laundry. Folding laundry is a task that I generally dread, and I had literally two laundry baskets full of clean clothes that I needed to deal with. Both him doing it unasked AND not putting it away so I could put things where I wanted them was really really sweet.

Love that dude.