I started dating Stephen when I was a senior in high school. When I graduated I went to visit my mom in Arizona for the summer. I later decided that I was going to stay there instead of go back to California. He was the first person I talked to about it and he was very understanding, considering there was a lot going on at my dads house, and I just wanted out. So I moved out here to Arizona in June without saying goodbye to anyone in California.

Well, about a week before Labor Day, my now Fiancé, mentioned that his mom and him were going to take a trip to Las Vegas. So I told my mom and a friend out here that I wanted to go there and surprise him. They were all for it! So I kept it from him, thinking I was being sly. So when labor day weekend came, my friend and I were all packed up, and ready to go to Vegas, and my mom said we had to pick up her friend from the airport and then we could be on our way to Vegas.

So we were waiting for this girl, she said her name was Stephanie, talkin’ about how much fun the weekend would be, and I turned around because they kept looking behind me, and THERE HE WAS!!! He had been planning the trip the whole time!!!!! He flew out to see me in Arizona, and I was completely clueless!!! I hadn’t seen him in 3 months and for him to show up like that was just the most amazing thing!!! Needless to say we didn’t go to Vegas! but it was the best weekend ever. We have now been long distance for about 18 months, he lives in California where he is going to school full time. We plan on getting married when he finishes school, and he moves out here. We are completely in love with each other, and are constantly reminding people that the impossible is very possible if you really love each other. And we do

Victoria

My boyfriend, Brett, lives 7 hours away. We met in college. He graduated last May; I won’t graduate for another year and a half. We didn’t start dating until after he moved, I guess he didn’t realize how much he liked me till he was apart from me for a while. We have been averaging seeing each around once a month. However, this month it looked like with our busy schedules it just wasn’t going to work. I was having a really bad week and was feeling awful with the stress of classes when he asked me online, “So are you really busy this weekend?” I was alarmed by the statement and reference that it was our Homecoming weekend and I had band all day Saturday and various other activities Friday night. I asked him why he asked and he responded with, “Well you’ve been feeling so lousy lately I want you to enjoy Homecoming.” I thought nothing of it after that. Then the Thursday of Homecoming week I called him and he didn’t answer, which is unusual for Thursday nights. A little while later, a mutual friend of ours called me to make sure I was planning on going to our church service that night. I tried calling Brett again a bit later and he still didn’t answer, I started to get slightly concerned. Another mutual friend called not five minutes later trying to confirm that I would be at church that evening. At this point I knew something was up. I went over to church, pretty sure what I would find. I was right. Standing there smiling at me was Brett, who I wasn’t expecting to see for another month. I was so happy I almost cried. He said it took all his will power not to tell me, especially when I was having such a hard time right before his visit. He had known for a while he was coming, so I was shocked he was able to keep it from me. He’s truly an amazing guy, and I am so lucky to have him, even if he is 7 hours away he’s always here in my heart.

Nikki

My best friend was known for getting people Build-a-Bears for special occasions, and I had helped her design them for people a few times. I had always wanted one, but I never got one. At some point, I had told my girlfriend, Cheryl, this, and a couple of times we had gone into the Build-a-Bear workshop together, but she could never find the right one for me. The day before we drove across the country to move me to grad school, I surprised Cheryl with a bear of her own — a black lab puppy actually. He is named “Chance,” and she loves him dearly. Helps her get through all those nights apart.

So she got a a bear from me, but she could never find the right one for me. As it turns out, she had previously had a Build-a-Bear that she had gotten in college as a gift for being in charge of the Habitat for Humanity group at her school — his name was Hugh. She had shown him to me before, but I had forgotten about him.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago when I traveled from Massachusetts to Las Vegas to visit her for the weekend. I had classes from about 9 AM and I had a 6 hour flight, and so it was about 3AM my time when I got there. When I met her in the terminal, she was holding a Build-a-Bear box. As sweet as that was it was not the sweetest part. Granted I was touched by the gesture as no one else –even my best friend– had ever given me one. I opened the box, and she asked me if I recognized the bear inside. I did not. I think this was mainly because I was exhausted from the long day and travel. She told me I would understand when I read the card inside.

As she drove us home from the airport, I read the card and got tears in my eyes.

It said:

“I may not be new but now I belong to you!
I was once loved very much but now she’s got a new pup.
Can you love me as much as she loves you?”

Not only had she given me my first Build-a-Bear, but she had given me hers, Hugh.

I have to admit that I haven’t had stuffed animals since I was a kid, but Hugh warms my night every night and reminds me so much of her.

Thad

So, the sweetest thing Daniel has ever said to me. I actually have it memorized but I saved it to my computer just for keepsake<3

I was playing a game of "what if" with him one night...you know "what if I did this" or "what if this happened". And I said some things just to be silly and his answer, even though goofy and easy, which is his way, his answer completely stopped my heart and brought tears to my eyes. And it went......

(oh by the way....he absolutely hates the color yellow

Me: “What if you came home, and I had burnt the meatloaf, shaved my head and painted the living room yellow?”
Him<3: “I’d eat it, rub your head like a crystal ball and probably get some sun glasses.”

Extremely simple and crazy, but that’s us and that is one of the Sweetest Things he has ever said to me<3

Ciera

The sweetest thing my boyfriend has ever done would have to be when said “No matter the distance between us, and no matter how long it takes, I will come see you one day and we be happy together, and I don’t care what I have to do.”

Shelbey

This is a passage my boyfriend wrote to me. He wrote it after we had a “Trial Separation” period in which we did not talk to each other at all for a week, just to see if it would somehow help deter the constant arguments we had with one another every other day. During that time, we were both extremely depressed, sleep-deprived, and turning physically ill. He just wanted to write something that we could both relate to, and read if either of us became lonely during hard times in the future.

With the hopes of having one peaceful night of seven hours, my anxiousness to sleep came early. But that desire for a peaceful siesta was completely shattered a mere three hours later by a terrifying nightmare that’s escaped my mind, yet imprinted its subtle memory into the lining of my imagination regardless.

The pain of this reminiscence that I couldn’t even actually remember was agonizing. And not even the comforting antics of Barbara Adler or Franz Liszt’s Ave Maria could soothe my restless mind. I started to cry.

What happened next had occurred to my subconscious being before. On the false edges of sleep that weighed the centers of my eyelids, I felt your presence. I was already aware by all human comprehension that you weren’t possibly as close as you seemed. But with my dreaming eyes closed and desperately calling out for reprieve, I was ready to believe anything.

I felt your docile hand stroke the outer layer of my ruffled hair; the hair that wasn’t concealed in the velvet material of the body pillow that it rested on. With your remaining hand, you took hold of mine and squeezed it gently as you rubbed your thumb against the bare skin of my backhand. Your patience was like the pantomime of a metronome endlessly counting the minutes that my tears played their hushed sonata from the corners of my eyes and beautifully down my cheeks.

And as if to be a following duet to the concerto my emotional state has produced, you began to hum that unfamiliar melody to the lullaby that you once called mine - never forgetting to pause in between measures in order to ensure that I was still listening softly.

As my tears dried, the charisma of your warm smile was visible, even in the dark that engulfed my bedroom. Silent gestures of I love yous coursed from your lips, if only to prove that the phrase wasn’t just another irresponsible leer of society as the philosophical thoughts of Roland Barthes had seemed to explain in his elucidations of a lover’s discourse. “I love you,” you would say with an indisputable tone, and nothing more than that three-word phrase that gave even the darkest of hearts a light to follow. “I love you.”

That was all I needed

Alexandra

When my boyfriend and I first met and started talking I told him I saw this adorable stuffed duck. He made fun of me about it for days. 6 months later (this was a month ago) I was having a super stressful week at school and seriously was about to break down. It was Thursday night when I got home from school, and when I walked into my bedroom there was a dozen red roses and a stuffed animal duck. There was a card that said “I miss you and can’t wait to see you tomorrow.” I had no idea how he got it into my room since he was a state away but it was so adorable and that was when I realized I loved him.

Kelly

My boyfriend and I don’t get to talk on the phone much, because he has a pay as you go phone plan and he ALWAYS runs out of minutes. So sometimes he runs out in the middle of the week and I don’t get to talk to him again until the end of the week when he gets paid. I get really down when he runs out of minutes…obviously. He is the one person who can REALLY cheer me up so not being able to talk to him is really difficult. So when he runs out of minutes he sends me sweet little notes in the mail everyday that we don’t get to talk. He is a cartoonist and sends me cute little pictures of the two of us or he’ll send sweet little pieces of paper with reasons he loves me. The most recent letter was short and all it said was “everytime I missed you today I put a scrap of paper in this envelope” and the envelope was filled with scraps of paper that had ranges of sweet things written on them (”I miss you” “I miss your smell” ” I miss your smile”) He makes sure that I know I’m loved … even from a distance

Meg

My boyfriend and I met on a cruise during Spring Break and really hit it off. My first kiss with him was on my 16th Birthday - and of course when we got back home we were over 1,100 miles away and couldn’t miss each other more.

During that coming summer, he gathered all the money his family and friends had given him for both graduation and his birthday and flew out to see me just two days after he had turned 18. He even stayed at a campsite for two weeks with no electricity just so he could spend some time with me.

We talk every night on the phone and love every minute we can hear each others voices. And we’ve been together for nearly 7 months now =]

I love you Jacob!

Liz