Hearts, no. Compliments as I think they're appropriate. If you send me a picture and I like it, I will say so. I will also usually be specific about something in the pic whether it's your hair, smile, or how well pulled together the outfit is.

Story time?

So, my more recent girlfriend I met online. We initially connected valentine's day last year and our first date was Feb 19th. We hit it off super fast. We were both working on writing projects, so we shared our work with one another. It was great insight into how she thinks, what she likes, and how smart she is. We gave each other lots of compliments on each other's writing.

We both found each other attractive and she had a lot of experience with long distance relationships, so she likes to communicate with video messages. That meant I got to see her move and talk and be this adorable human that she is. I also sent her video messages in return. There was plenty to compliment there, and we both did.

We were nervous to meet each other because we seemed to like each other so much before we even saw each other. We both think the other is out of our league, lol! At one point she even said she was worried I wouldn't like her when we met in real life... To which I replied that the only thing left to find out is how she smells. We very cutely sniffed each other's necks when we first met and giggled and said that we passed that test, too.

So, yeah, there was a ton of compliments leading up to us meeting... but, I don't think there were any heart emojis until a little later.

There were other things that really stood out that mattered, too. One really big thing is that I had experienced a really shitty health problem (auto-immune connective tissue disorder) a couple years before we met. I told her about it prior to meeting because I think honesty and vulnerability will find me the person who really wants me for me... I will never forget her response. It could have been anything, and I was somewhat expecting her to pull back some... but, she said, "If you ever fall apart, I'll put you back together."

Of course, that sounds like too much commitment for someone they haven't met, but I didn't take it as a current promise... moreso a promise that, if things work for us, she would be there for me even with my condition. Honestly, I melted with feelings of relief, acceptance, and the first seeds of love. Turns out, I'm fine... and over the last year, she's fallen apart. She has a very major surgery coming up a week from today, actually... I've been to all of her doctor appointments, taken all the notes, sorted all the prescriptions, managed insurance stuff, and will be staying at the hospital with her.

She promised to put me back together and I'm committed to putting her back together, too.

I know that's way more than you asked for... but, the point I'm hoping to get across is that we connected deeply and quickly and it's working really well for us... At each step of the way, we liked each other and put ourselves out there for each other, complimented what we liked, and kept moving forward. We both appreciated how genuine, upfront, and vulnerable we were with each other. It was the foundation of an amazing relationship.