Relationships

Have you ever told a partner "I love you?" Did you mean it when you said it? Did the relationship succeed?

I have never said "I love you" when I did not consciously mean it, but I have said "I love you" when what I was feeling was some affection and excitement, but not love. In retrospect, I probably should not have said "I love you" to maybe half of these women.

My history:

(I am using initials to protect my partners' anonymity, as a few of their names are unusual and seeing those uncommon names together would identify me and them. The photos are not pictures of my partners, but simply pictures that resemble my partners.)

P. - my first love. The relationship ended when she returned to a previous partner. We reconnected years later but it still didn't work. She ended it. Great learning experience. Five years combined with her.

E. - serious mistake by me, a rebound from P. She was a very nice, very pretty lady but addicted to prescription pills. She loved sex! I "rescued" her and, in return, she went back to a previous partner. I was in my early 20's and never repeated that mistake. I ended it after less than one year.

Similar to El
Similar to El

D. - I wanted to be in love and I wanted to be married, so I told her "I love you" and we were married. Big mistake by YoungerAndStupider. She showed signs of BPD but I ignored them, then stayed far too long, trying to make the relationship work . . . all by myself. We both decided to end it. Nineteen years. She died in 2024.

O. - A beautiful woman from Ukraine, but very materialistic. She once lived near me, but now lives about 250 miles from me. I stayed in contact and spent time with her occasionally, but I finally ended it in 2017. Haven't heard from her since then. Total of maybe 18 months.

O. was not a Ukrainian mail order bride, but she looked like this.
O. was not a Ukrainian mail order bride, but she looked like this.

J. - An exotic woman from Colombia. How, fiery, passionate, and crazy as an outhouse dog! I ended it. One year.

A. - Married her and thought it would be forever. Wrong. She ended it, said she just didn't want to be married. Seven years. I heard that she had never dated since our divorce.

A.
A.

I. - Intelligent, cute, a great match about 95% of the time, but she is a spoiled only child who never grew up. I ended it after two years

T. - A rebound after I. A bad rebound. Alcoholic. Charming when she wasn't drunk. I ended it after two years. The only one towards whom I harbor unpleasant feelings.

H. - Not glamorous, but cute, dependable, trustworthy. Still together after five years and hoping for forever.

Have you ever told a partner I love you? Did you mean it when you said it? Did the relationship succeed?

But I never told any woman "I love you" just to get sex or manipulate her in any way. I was at least as honest with my partners as I was with myself. Each one of them told me that they loved me, and I think they meant it when they said it. But love - by itself - is never enough.

What's your history of saying "I love you?"

Have you ever told a partner "I love you?" Did you mean it when you said it? Did the relationship succeed?
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