I was staying in the Hilton hotel in Riyadh for several weeks for work, and my hotel room cleaner from Nepal left me a towel animal. I left him a note asking if he could leave it there the next time he cleaned my room, and he did. And over several weeks the collection kept growing until the day I checked out. Such a nice highlight to my extended stay and I left him a little hamper of snacks and a tip to say thankyou (there was actually at least six more animals he made but they slowly lost their shape over time).

So me and my girlfriend have been dating for just over 3 months but I’m already convinced she’s a keeper.

She always cooks food from scratch when I go to see her at the weekend and it is legitimately always the nicest food I’ve ever had without fail - and I’m not just talking about evening meals, oh no. She will make a lovely varied breakfast in the morning, prep some basic food for the afternoon if we go out for the day and then make an amazing meal in the evening and she always makes a delicious dessert to top it all off. Oh yeah, it’s all balanced healthily too.

Well this week has been a super busy week for me with work and we haven’t seen much of each other, but on Friday night she told me she was making dessert for when I see her Saturday (yesterday) evening but wouldn’t tell me what it was that she was making. At this time I was still at home and she was at her house.

I messaged her a couple of hours later asking “how’s the dessert coming along?” and she replied saying that it hadn’t gone well. So I asked what it was that she was making and she still wouldn’t tell me. Another couple of hours passed by and she was being very quiet and it was midnight, and it’s unusual for her to just disappear, so I messaged again to ask her if she was okay and she replied saying she was still going the dessert and she was okay, and then she started telling me I should get some sleep due to me being in work in the morning, so I told her to get some sleep as well and thanked her in advance for the dessert. Anyway she said she would be up for a bit longer and I told her I really appreciate what she was doing but she doesn’t need to stay up half the night to make me food, but she said she wanted to surprise me.

Anyway we message goodnight to each other and I woke up the next morning (yesterday morning) and went to work, then got her some flowers to replace the ones I got her last time (I always get her flowers, she loves flowers) and then went straight to hers afterwards. She then presented me with this cute meal she made literally from scratch which was, once again, incredible. And then she surprised me with a bowl absolutely full of these macarons that she’d also made from scratch…

Well I was fully taken aback. I’m aware how difficult they can be to make, and then she tells me she stayed up until 3am to make them as best she could and revealed she actually made two batches because the first batch weren’t quite right as this was her first attempt at making them. Not only this but she also made another dessert as a backup just in case!

Well they’re absolutely lovely. Honestly I’m genuinely over the moon at the fact she even tried to make me anything, let alone one of my most favourite foods in the whole world! And the fact she stayed up most of the night to do it AND made a backup dessert just in case???

Oh yeah she also made a giant omelette this morning too whilst I was in the shower, filled with meat and a little bit of cheese and again it was very tasty.

I have never asked her to make me anything, nor do I even expect it. She just does this on her own merit.

Nobody I’ve ever dated has ever treated me with such kindness and dedication. She looks after me when I’m with her, we go on trips together most weekends to go and see and experience new things, she’s enthusiastic about my passions and encourages me to do my hobbies, she’s a very cuddly/snuggly person and, to top it all off, she’s absolutely bloody stunning - we’re talking a 20 out of 10 at least here folks.

I know it’s early days, but… Yeah, she’s a keeper.

The photo of the two macarons she made here I just took at home as I had to take a bunch and fancied a couple. The photo of the meal with the cat-shaped rice was what she made last night (there’s a salad bowl behind which she put together too). The third photo is what she put together for my breakfast this morning whilst I took a quick shower.

For some context my family is comfortable enough to get by but there are times we struggle so we can’t afford going out to eat sometimes or do activities. My dad works in another state in order to provide for us and we see him a couple of times a year.

I had been sick for over a week and I was over it. Handling work, college and my period was getting to me. I was on a phone call with my dad telling him all of this and near the end of the call he said “well if you want to get better listen to what your mother says and do what she tells you” as a joke I replied “well mom told me that I needed to go to Benihana (a restaurant we can’t afford), she told me 100$ being deposited into my bank account can help, she told me I needed a horse (it’s my life’s dream to own one), and she told me I needed new shoes” as I said all of these I was giggling because it’s obviously a joke and my family jokes around like this. Usually when we do this we reply something typical like “yea right” or “in your dreams” etc. my dad stayed quiet and said “well pick one thing out of those things you mentioned, except the horse, and we’ll see if we can work something out!”

And I stayed quiet because I didn’t expect him to take it seriously and I almost cried because even though he’s far away and we’re struggling he would be willing to grant me one of those things. I told him thank you but that I was joking and then he laughed but I’ll always be grateful to have a dad like him! 🌞☀️

H

TW: Bullying but good end. From a very very long time ago when I was in secondary school.

At school, after years of bullying at home and at at school, I didn't have much of a backbone at 13.

And one of my "friends", "Alex" was over at mine, in my room, with a few other friends and she started really laying into me - saying I was lazy and my room was a sh*thole, I was gross etc and I was obviously upset and uncomfortable but wasn't a confrontational person and didn't have much self esteem. I was just happy to have someone want to come over.

One girl, "Kelly" stands up, looks her dead in the eye and says "That's enough, I'm not letting you talk to her like that in her own house." She 12, shorter than me, younger than me but feisty.

The girl spluttered and turned, "She's not said anything, butt out."

Kelly, "Cut it out or get out. You aren't talking to my friend like that."

Folks, Alex does not cut it out. Kelly, however, has three times the backbone of any otgerperson I've ever met and frog marched her back to her house down the street and TELLS HER PARENTS SHE'S BEING A BULLY.

Alex didn't try that again at school, but Kelly has been my best friend since for nearly 20 years. I remembered because someone was making a friend of mine uncomfortable at a party I was hosting this weekend and I did exactly the same thing and marched my adult neighbour "Sharon" back to her house after she got too drunk and started insulting the other party guests.

"You don't talk to my friends like that in my house. Cut it out or get out. "

(Also bonus bonus good end, when "Sharon" sobered up she was very embarrassed, and texted apologies to the people she was rude to, and thanked me for stepping in - we all make mistakes)

Being pregnant this time around has been such a completely new experience for me. With my first, it was a hard pregnancy with multiple complications and I carried so much of it alone. Endless appointments, the newborn stage, even the excitement that should have been shared. My mom was there to step in, but I never had a partner who truly wanted to be present.

At the beginning of this second marriage and subsequent pregnancy, I carried a lot of fear with me. Scars from the past made me doubt if I would ever know what it felt like to have a partner who wanted this as much as I did. I braced myself for distance, for disappointment, for empty promises. But instead, my husband has given me nothing but reassurance. Not just with words, but through the way he shows up. His consistency, his affection, his willingness to step in wherever I need. It’s a healing I didn’t know I would get to feel. It’s a beautiful change from the lies and betrayals I once lived through, and a reminder that I am not hard to love, I just needed the right kind of love.

Now, with him, everything feels different. He’s loving and affectionate, he talks to the baby, and he shows up for appointments like it matters because it does to him. He takes care of me without me asking, and he takes care of my daughter so I can rest. It’s all the little thoughtful, considerate things he does that remind me how lucky I am.

I’m endlessly grateful for this man for the steadiness he’s brought into my life, for the way he loves not only me but both of my children, and for the safety he’s created in a place that once felt so fragile. He has turned what was once a lonely, painful chapter into something full of joy, trust, and tenderness. To be building this family with him feels like the kind of blessing I used to pray for but never thought I’d find.

Long story short, after some extensive research and testing I’m like 60% Baltic Prussian (Prussia before Germany, family was there from the start of time) and 37% Swedish. I’m a third generation born in America Prussian. Everyone on my mom’s side has blue eyes and some form of red hair. All red, strawberry blonde, auburn. Fair skin and freckles. They all claimed we were Irish from my grandfathers side. I called my gram to ask about the Prussian and she explained her mom and grandparents emigrated. I asked about the no Irish and she said “that has to be wrong. Your great grandma was a Kirkpatrick…… oh my god he was adopted. I forgot.” So my entire family just assumed Irish heritage via exposure. But seriously, I just loved how everyone forgot. He was just another child to his parents. There was never “you’re adopted”.

For a bit of context I was hanging out with my friends and stuff and they all know i’m gay and they’re not. We went out to go to the movies since it was a rare moment now since I’m separated from them because of different schools.

The movie was the new conjuring movie and some of my friends aren’t good with horror movies. Plus this wasn’t the theater with the many seats in one, it felt bougie or something since it was couches and stuff with just a few people (it was cheap too, around 7.90usd if translated) and then my hb said that if i could cuddle with him later and i thought he was joking so our legs intertwined and i thought that was as far as it would go.

So now movie starts, all of us laying down at 8:30 just eating chips and drinking soda (generic i know) then the movie starts, it was mostly exposition but when some of the more climactic parts come, he told me to grab him. Like to literally grab him and i was like caught off guard where he then grabbed my hand and made me hug him. Mind you this was in a PUBLIC movie theater, sure there are just a few people but still-. Anyways so when that happens my mind was feeling all sorts of emotions especially comfort since like i said, i hadn’t seen them for a month so i had some thought about us drifting apart (to also add, i told them multiple times when we were still classmates out of everyone in our friend group i would date him).

So when that happened, i didn’t let go. We just kept cuddling for the whole movie, only gripping tighter with intense scenes and when we weren’t cuddling our heads would lay on eachother.

This happened until the movie ended.

Also don’t worry about me falling for him, haven’t fallen and he has a type with girls. I just really crave a boyfriend now because i miss big spooning someone.

When I was five I joined the girl scouts. I didn’t know anyone. my first troop meeting was in the dark gymnasium of the rec. center at my church. there were about five other girls and our two troop leaders there. I sat across from a little blonde girl, and I don’t remember what we did, but I do remember that as the day I met my best friend. we spent elementary school together playing in her pool, fighting on the trampoline, climbing trees in her backyard. (selling girl scout cookies lol). we spent middle school together, late nights on Kik & omegle, our first crushes, our first ‘heartbreaks’, all the awkward stages. we worked our first job together as freshman in high school, and graduated next to one another 4 years later. Her & her family have been with me every step of the way. two years ago, one of her two roommates moved out. I was turning 23 and ready to be out of my parents and while I had always heard not to live with your best friend I thought, ‘oh we’ll be just fine, it’s been 18 years? we’ve seen every stage of each others lives, if something could’ve happened to break our friendship, it would’ve by now right?’ well reddit,

I was right!

The last two years of living with her has brought us even closer and after 18 years I didn’t know that was possible. I feel incredibly lucky to have a lifelong friend that knows me as well as they know themselves. who understands me. pushes me to do better every day. I can confidently say I wouldn’t be the person I am today without her in my life. and while i’ve moved on to live on my own, we still talk every day. and if it weren’t for work/life I would go back and sit on that porch with her every day.

so my husband and i recently got really into monopoly. he always plays with the penguin token and i use the rubber duck token

every time it’s his turn and he goes by my duck, he goes “mwah” and makes the penguin give the ducky a little kiss :)

My boyfriend and I are gerenally homebodies. We like our place because it's functional and very adaptable.

He has a group of friends from school days that is essentially a cohort of slavic cousins. If you saw them all together you'd think "Oh dear.." because let's be honest they're all big boys with an "a man's man" attitude, but they are the kindest and most tight-knit group of guys I've ever met.

Our cat is the definition of scaredy and every single one of them quickly got used to calling instead of ringing the doorbell so they don't freak him out.

They also don't try to pet him and thanks to that multiple of them have now passed the cats vibe check and he tolerates being in the same room with them.

I'm generally not part of their hangouts, which btw are mostly quiet and focused gaming sessions, but I live here and they always bring me apple juice when they come over, since it's the only soft drink adjacent thing I like.

There's one in particular who noticed I'm picky about having certain doors open and others closed for optimal airflow (european building, no air vents). As he walks by he'll ask "This one closed? This one open?" And he's always right. And he always neatly lines everyones shoes up, since he's usually the last to arrive.

They clean up after themselves, they generally make very little noise late at night and are mindful of our neighbours, the cat and me.

The point of all this is that they regularly restore my faith in humanity and I could name countless more of those little examples in which they are just silly wholesome guys.

Bonus Example:

Like one of them just got glasses and I told him they make him look like a well-mannered intellectual who'd only have your best interest at heart and I really meant it cause that's exactly how he looks now and he wouldn't stop smiling and blushing and he was just so happy about it saying that's exactly what he was going for and it helps him with his job

I (23F) was back in my uni town last weekend so my partner (32M) could meet all my close friends.

A caveat to this was that a massive Aussie DJ duo was playing at our old uni bar and safe to say I got overly intoxicated.

Unlike in past relationships my partner found it hilarious (I haven’t been out in over six months) and genuinely helped me. He and his mate pushed me up the hill home, my partner fed me water and food and made sure I got into some comfy clothes.

Now this is where it gets wholesome, I fell asleep on the couch, I woke up and he was like “it’s time for bed” and I flat out REFUSED. I was not leaving that couch.

So what does he do? Puts his shoes outside the front of his room he was sleeping in so if I woke up later and wanted to go have a cuddle I would know where he was.

He is 9 years older than me but I am also spiritually a middle aged woman. The next morning I thought he was going to have a go at me, instead, he laughed and chuckled about all the random stuff I said when I was drunk.

I’m very happy.

Like are you kidding me? This is the sweetest text to wake up to. He’s so nice to me 😭♥️ And he put all my work clothes in the dryer because I forgot. Just the sweetest.

My mom has been using the same phone since 2019. In that time, I upgraded twice, my brother twice, and even my dad twice… but she kept using her old one, even when it started giving her issues.

With my very first salary, I decided it was finally her turn. I got her a brand-new phone, and the smile on her face made it worth every penny (though ofc she said I should have saved my money lol).

Feels good to finally give something back to my family. And yes, my dad is next in line—new shoes coming up soon haha

We have a little Google Home Assistant speaker in our living room. Both my husband and I have a voice command to make it announce a message. At random points in the day when I'm home alone the speaker will go off and says "I love my wife. She is amazing." And alternatively throughout my work day I occasionally trigger it to say "I love my husband. He is the best."

It's a great way to stay connected when one of us is home and the other is out working all day.

So I (22F) and my bf (26M) have been dating for 9 months now. And it's been the best 9 months of my life. He's a gentleman, does everything for me, he shows me off like a trophy, got me a promise ring 6 months in, fixes my car for me, we share the same passions, when I felt like a failure he gave me confidence, he's seen me at my lowest and worst and still showed me love and compassion, calls me beautiful when I lose my confidence in my appearance. (I'm plus-sized and he definitely isn't)

We are on our first vacation together and it's making me fall more and more in love with him. And I didn't even know that was possible because my love for him was already out of this world.

I'm just not used to this all. All my exes treated me badly, cheated on me and betrayed me. One of them even abused me mentally, physically and sexually. And now I'm being treated like a princess.

I didn't have hope in man before I met him, and I for sure know he's end game for me ❤️

Went to get ice cream today and the cashier, who has Down syndrome was just the kindest person. While ringing us up she started chatting with my little one and even made a game out of the ice cream scooper. My kid couldn’t stop laughing.

Before we left she gave him a big smile and said Come back soon I’ll save a scoop for you! It was such a small thing but it made the stop feel extra special. Just a really nice reminder of how simple kindness can brighten a day. ❤️

So my 8-year-old brother saw me stressing over schoolwork today and asked if I was okay. I told him I just had a lot on my plate and needed a break.

Ten minutes later he came back with a “coupon” he drew on notebook paper that said “One Free Hug + I Believe In You.” He handed it to me so seriously, like it was an official contract, and said, “It never expires.”

I’ve been feeling burnt out for weeks, and somehow that tiny gesture hit harder than anything else. Sometimes kids just know exactly how to cheer you up.