The Different Shapes and Sizes Of Love

By Dominica Nemec

ove. Love is something that

surrounds everyone, in every way. We live in a world that is so focused on fear and heartbreak that it almost seems as though we forget about the most important and most positive part of this complicated world, love. One night, while watching CNN in my apartment, I started thinking about how the only news we hear about are the worrisome and negative messages about politics, attacks, death, missing people, and all the other stories that tend to leave a bad taste in our mouths. I then changed the channel, and a romantic comedy was on. It got me thinking, we are all surrounded by love, and all of us are living a love story. I decided to ask our Cosmo subscribers about their love stories. What people sent in was truly remarkable, and it was very heartwarming to see love still exists in this world. Here is a small sample of some of the amazing stories people sent in;

deliberately rude or mean to my face (Peter would never allow that), but when all of my husbands (then boyfriend) friends put in some sort of effort to get to know me, Mark never did. The only nice thing I remember him doing from that time was at our wedding. After our vows, before we walked out of the chapel, Mark organized a band (hidden between the guests) to get up and start playing All You Need Is Love by The Beatles. Although incredibly sweet, I simply thought he was doing something as a best man duty.

Secret Love
Hey Cosmo, I saw the question about love posted on the website and I wanted to tell my story, since I have never told anyone about it, not even my husband. The reason I have never told him is because I dont think he would react well to it, but I personally think its innocent and incredibly sweet. Ever since Peter and I started dating, I knew that his best friend, Mark, absolutely hated me. He was never

I guess this love story truly started two weeks after my wedding, when I went to visit Mark to see if he had some footage from the wedding that I could use. After reluctantly letting me into his apartment and answering my questions with one word answers, I confronted him about our weak relationship and that I hope wed be friends one day, to which he shrugged his shoulders. After saying he had no videos from the wedding, I found a VHS titled Juliet and Peter and popped it in. The footage was great quality, but I soon realized it was only of me. Turns out my assumptions of how Mark felt about me were completely false.

We never discussed that day again until one night, a few days before Christmas, Mark rang my doorbell, turned on music as if it were Christmas Carolers (so Peter wouldnt know), and, with a series of signs, told me he loved me, and will always love me. I then leaned in and kissed him. It was the most romantic moment of my life. I am not saying I love him more than Peter, or that I would ever consider leaving Peter, that is not my intention, but sometimes a girl needs to hear that she is truly loved. Mark and I are now friends, nothing more, but I will always hold that moment dear to my heart. Sincerely, Juliet

him. I found myself thinking of him constantly, and I was always very sad when he dropped me off at my apartment at the end of the day. When he decided to return to England, I was very sad, and on the final time he drove me home I kissed him as we were saying goodbye. I was very sad for the next couple of days, until one night, my boss at the restaurant came up to me and told me a man was there to see him. I look over the balcony to the second floor, and there was Jamie, with my family and almost the entire community behind him (very odd, and I dont understand to this day why they were there). He then said, in very shaky Portuguese, that he loved me and asked my hand in marriage. I happily said yes. After our wedding, I moved with him to London. I started learning English, and he continued learning Portuguese (with little luck). I sent this story in because I wanted to show that love happens in the oddest ways. I barely knew this man, and we did not understand each other, but we managed to fall in love, and if it happened to us, it can happen to anyone. With love, Aurelia

Love In Translation
I am Portuguese, but I live in France. Although I have lived here since I was a young girl, I only speak a little French since I live in the Portuguese community. Finding work in a country you cannot effectively communicate is difficult, so I worked in a Portuguese restaurant as a waitress, but I wasnt making enough to help support my family so I got a second job as a housekeeper. On my first job I was assigned to an English man who was at his cottage for a few weeks to write his book. I knew only a little bit of French, and he knew even less. For a while things were very difficult and quite awkward, but as time went on it got easier. It almost seemed as though we learned to communicate without a common language. The weeks went by, and I started to grow fonder of

Young Love
I am a bit older now, but this story happened when I was 11, and I will never forget it. After my mom died from a long battle with cancer, it was just my stepdad and I. I think he was very worried about me because I really kept to myself after her death. I was very sad that I had lost my mom, but I also felt very guilty because in a time of pain, I was also in love. When my stepdad finally asked me if everything was alright, I explained this to him. I told him how mom was always in my thoughts, but I couldnt help but think constantly about Joanna, a girl in my class. I think my stepdad was pleased with the fact that nothing more serious was troubling me, but he understood what I meant when I said being in love is total agony. Together, we came up with a plan of how I should get Joanna. Nothing worked, until I found out that she was going to be singing in the Christmas play at school. With that, we decided that girls love musicians, so I started learning to play the drums. By the time the Christmas play came around, I was quite good and managed to play in the band while she sang. I finally felt as though I was in, until I found out that she was leaving for America right after the concert. Thats when my stepdad suggested I just tell her I love her. We drove to the airport, and I dodged and ran passed all the security until I was at the gate, where I finally told her the truth. She kissed me on the cheek, and the rest is history. The next time I saw her was a year later when she came back to England. It was all I could ever hope for, I loved her and she loved me back.

I guess this isnt just a love story about Joanna and I, but about my dad and I as well. That sounds really strange, but I really bonded with my stepdad over that time, and I couldnt imagine a better father than he is, and I love him for that. Love isnt just about a boy and a girl, but about us all. Sincerely, Sam

Love Triangle

Hello Cosmo, I love your magazine and I saw the love question in the last issue, so I decided to respond to it! Im new in London, so making friends has been quite difficult. I moved for a job as a secretary, and I do not know anyone else here. Although life seems to be pretty lonely at the moment, the people at work have proven to be quite friendly, especially my boss Harry. Harry is quite a bit older, married, and has two young children, but even with all these warning signs I cant help but think

about him constantly. I know its wrong, and its even worse that I flirt with him. I dont know what comes over me when I speak to him, but I cannot help it, it is as though I am not myself. I even went as far as suggesting that I wanted him to buy me a Christmas gift, which he did. It was a beautiful gold necklace. I have noticed, however, that since Christmas, Harry has been strictly business with me. I suspect that his wife has found out, she already did not seem to warm up to me at the Christmas party, and if she found out about the necklace then that would explain everything. I feel positively horrible about the way I acted with married man/father, and I am ashamed to say it, but I am heartbroken. Love is a tricky thing when its forbidden. I dont know how long it will take me to get over this, or if I ever will, but I wanted to write to you with the message that love is not always a fairy tale. Sometimes, love hurts. With great sadness, Mia

the entire office knew about it. I mean the woman is not subtle in any means, and secrecy is not her strong suit. At first, I felt rather uncomfortable with it, but as time went on, I started to see her in another light, and in fact grew quite fond of her. I have been meaning to ask her out for over a year now, but (as into me as she is) she always seems unavailable. Sarah is always on her cell phone, always running off on emergencies, and I never saw an opening, until our Christmas party. I decided that since she was here and I was here, and she finally was not on her cell phone, I would ask her to dance, and we did. We ended up having a great time, and I offered to drive her home at the end of the night. One thing lead to another and we started kissing. At that moment her phone rang, I begged her not to pick it up, but she couldnt resist. I lay there, waiting for her to explain to whoever it was that she was unavailable at the moment, but instead she said, no, Im not busy. I knew at that moment that this, we, were never going to happen. I was frustrated and confused. She explained to me the next day at work that she has a mentally ill brother whom she takes care of any chance she can get, since their parents are out of the picture. She then apologized and said that, although she desperately wanted it to, she knew it would never work out between us. Since then, we sit in the same office everyday, and we both know the pain the other feels when we see each other. We love, but from afar. Love can sometimes be so relentless and cruel, but we can never control our feelings.

Unavailable Love
Hi. My name is Karl, and I work as an architect at a design firm in London. I dont read Cosmo (sorry), but I found this question on the Internet one day at work, and thought Id give it a go. Im almost certain that what everyone sent in was about happy, forever after like stories, well mine is not like that. I have been working here for two years now, and ever since I started one of my coworkers, Sarah, was absolutely in love with me. I dont mean to sound cocky, or like a jerk, but Im pretty sure

Love can be blissful, but also agonizing, and only time heels wounds.

out and spent Christmas Eve getting drunk. Sometimes love doesnt have to be about two people in a relationship, but it can simply be about two friends. I think that love is what fills the lonely void in our hearts, no matter what form it comes in. Love is friendship, thats all. Sincerely, Joe

The Kind of Love That Friends Share

Hello Cosmo, Im sure you dont get a lot of men reading, or writing in to your magazine, but I was skimming through it at a radio station, and I thought I would write in. I have been the manager of a famous rock star for the past 30 years (whose name I cannot disclose due to personal details, and if he ever found out I wrote into Cosmo about this, he would have my head). We have had many ups, and many downs, and I have hated him many times over. How we managed to keep a working relationship is beyond me, but we did it. Last Christmas Eve, this particular rock star had been very successful wit this Christmas album, and while he was out partying, I was home alone watching the television. I dont have a wife of children, and my folks have passed on, so Im a pretty lonely guy. All of a sudden, I hear a knock on the door, and guess who it is. He comes barging in, a bit drunk, and starts going on about how boring the party was, blah, blah. When I asked him to get to the point he finally said that, he has never realized it till that moment, but after many wives and girlfriends, the love of his life was me. As you can imagine I took a few steps back away from him, and he yelled at me saying it wasnt like that, but rather I was his one and only friend. Being a lonely man, I understood what he meant and realized I had the same feelings about him. We hugged it

ell there you have it, everyone.

Simply love. Actually, our offices were quite shocked with the amount of mail that our readers sent in regards to this question. We were pleased to see that such a simple topic can touch so many people. Reading about all these people who felt the need to share their love experiences gives us hope for this cynical world we live in. Keep loving people, it only brings good, in one way or another!

Dominica Nemec Editor, Cosmopolitan Magazine