How to Know that You're With the Right Person

By Tedi Trindle

You know you're with the right person when:

--When you settle into bed at the end of the day and there is nowhere you would rather be than in his arms.

--When you wake up in the morning, and his is the first face you see, and the only one you care about seeing all day long.

--When you wake up in the morning, months or years later, and his is the first face you see and it's still the only one you care about.

--When you can tell him your deepest, darkest secrets and know that, even if he doesn't understand, he's going to try to and not judge you based on what he has always believed.

--When you feel joy just looking at his face and seeing him smile.

--When something he says makes you laugh, even when you don't feel like laughing. And his hug makes you feel better, even when you think the whole world sucks.

--When you do something incredibly stupid and self-damaging, and he's there to care for you, and is more worried about how it's going to affect you than how it's going to affect him.

--When you can just take joy in being with him, look forward to every minute you spend with him, and care about nothing more than that.

--When you dread death, because you don't know if you'll ever see him again and can't bear to be apart from him for more than a day or two, let alone eternity.

--When you're down, and the only thing you want is to feel his arms around you and to hear him tell you he loves you.

--When you're up and you want the whole world to rejoice with you, and him in particular...and he does.

--When the only thing that matters to you is helping him be happy, encouraging him in his endeavors, and knowing that he cares as much about your happiness and efforts as you do his.

--When you develop a secret communication language that no one else knows but you.

--When you can't envision a future that does not include him.

--When you don't have a past that he can't understand.

--When every moment you spend together, although fraught with current pain or joyous celebration, is time shared, and a way to achieve greater intimacy, when every second is golden, whether it be happy or sad.

Then you are with the right person. It sounds impossible, but I've found it, and lots of others have, too. The trick is to recognize it when you see it, and to claim it for your own.