When you picture the concept of romance, there are probably a handful of stereotypical things that immediately spring to mind. Rose petals, candles, long walks on an imaginary beach just as the sun dips below the horizon — you know, the usual. The one thing these romantic ideas have in common is that they're typically geared toward making a woman feel special and cared for, and that's great! But here's the thing: Dudes appreciate sweet, loving gestures, too. A recent Reddit thread asked Redditors to describe the most romantic things that have happened to men, and the guys came through.
Sure, there were a lot of blow job stories (spoiler alert: guys really, really like oral), but between the tales of surprise BJs were some of the sweetest and most relatable romantic moments ever, not to mention a couple of love stories so epic you'd think they came directly from a movie. So, if you've ever doubted that guys appreciate romantic gestures just as much as we do, prepare to have your mind changed. And who knows? Maybe you can even take some inspiration and do something sweet for the dude in your life.
Here are some of our favorites from the thread. Read on and just try not to melt.
When I told my girlfriend I love her for the first time, she replied "I know" I got Solo'd. It was amazing
A girl I was seeing ran down the steps of her front porch, down her driveway, and jumped into my arms when she saw me pull up. I melted.
When I told my girlfriend that I loved her. I was very nervous and it was only three months into our relationship but she smiled at me and told me "it took you long enough" and she pulled me in for a kiss. I feel really good about this one
Met a girl in Ireland on the first day of a 7 day tour I was taking. It was basically the start of a long, solo European trip I did. We hit it off immediately and spent the entire tour together. In fact, at the end of the tour the tour leader told me she thought the girl and I were together and had been dating for years.
Anyhow, back in Dublin after the tour, we made plans to go out for one final date as she was flying back home the next morning (she was Australian but visiting her mom who lived near London, and went on the Ireland trip as a mini-vacation). We spent the night together having dinner, walking around Dublin, and enjoying each other's company until late in the night when we finally had to part so she could at least get a couple hours sleep before her flight in the morning.
We were standing by St. Andrew's Church saying our goodbyes when she burst into tears. I asked what was wrong and she said (paraphrasing from my memory here), "It's unfair! It's so unfair to meet someone like you in a situation like this. I don't want to leave you. I don't want to leave this." She cried, we embraced, we kissed, we looked into each other's eyes, all that stuff. Eventually she had to go, we couldn't stand there in St. Andrew's shadow forever, and she turned and walked away toward her hostel. She said she didn't want me to walk her there because it would only mean "another goodbye, and I don't think I could do that." I watched her walk away as the streetlights shone down on her like spotlights guiding the star of a play off stage. When she got to the end of the block she stopped and turned back and waved a simple wave. I swear I could still see the tears on her face reflected in the glow of the streetlights. She turned once more and rounded the corner out of my life.
My now husband proposed to me on a full airplane, in the air, over the speaker system. The flight attendant helped him. It was her idea to make him stand at the front of the plane so that I had to walk all the way down the isle from the back, to him on one knee. All the passengers cheered and congratulated us while we returned to our seats. Then they gave us all the free drinks we wanted for the rest of the flight and we got totally wasted. It was surreal!
— malpal11
I had just quit my job at the age of 23 to travel the world. After a brief stint in South East Asia my friend invited me to Poland to visit his family.I remember getting shitfaced in a town of 8 thousand people who had never seen a tall brown man before aside from television and drinking with a bunch of his family who was our age and childhood friends.
This girl at the table was strikingly beautiful, funny, and interesting. I made any excuse to for a casual touch of the arm or catch her eye. The rest of the group felt invisible between the two of us. I remember making a terrible joke that her ears were uneven as I went to hold both of them in my hands. She proceeded to cup my face in return and stare deeply into my eyes. That stare lasted a full minute. I had never experienced something so intimate.
Later that night she took me by the hand as we walked around the hilly streets of this idyllic sleeping town. We drunkenly lay in the streets cracking jokes and she showed me the stars, pointing out the constellations by name. I had never seen the nigh sky like that, having come from LA. I just remember laying on the cobblestone rode drunkenly staring at stars and thinking that I had never had a more romantic night in my life even if there was no kiss or sexual activity.
That lady was my best friends cousin. We're now engaged and will be married before the end of the year. We've met up all over the world and my life has been like a movie ever since.
I was just standing around at a club and a girl who was as tall as me or a little taller grabbed me, held me close and gave me a kiss that I felt in my whole body. It came out of nowhere and it was actually a great kiss.
Was on a second date with this girl. I, being shy and not wanting to come off too aggressive, lightly kissed her. She replied "What the hell was that?", grabbed my by the shirt, and pulled me in for a much deeper kiss. It was pretty great, highlight of the year.
I was terribly sick and a girl came from the next county over to cook me homemade soup and play with my hair. It was really one of the most sweetest things anyone has ever done for me.
When my wife and I first started dating she got my roommate to let her in my dorm while I was out. She left me some homemade lightsaber (used pool noodles and duct tape) as well as my favorite snack, candy, and soda. She wrote a note that basically wished me a good finals week and kind of explained how if I was ready she would like to go ahead and but the label on of girlfriend. I just remember thinking about how much work and research went into it. Turns out she had been working on all of it for about two weeks. Definitely the moment things started getting serious for us.
My GF and I have been dating since 9th grade. Back then, being a high schooler, we both had horrible self esteem. On our anniversary (I forget which year) she made hundreds of small notes of compliments and moral boosters and put it in a mason jar to help me get through life. Now it's been 8 years and every so often I open the jar and I read one of them when I have a shit day.
It looks like what most of these epic love stories have in common is simply a desire for one person to make their SO feel loved and admired. That's really all it takes! You don't have to propose on an airplane or travel to another country to make your partner feel good. As long as your heart is in the right place, that's what really matters, and your partner will know that.
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