What Is Romance?

It's waking up next to someone and smelling their skin and liking that smell—now familiar—even if it's only been a few days. It's a warm body pressed against yours that fits like a puzzle piece. It's talking about nothing for an hour and feeling like you've solved a murder mystery together. It's a toothbrush in a cup next to yours. It's his tie flung over your desk chair. It's holding on to him on the subway when the car jerks. It's knowing he is always there for these simple moments. He will not let you fall. You really believe this. 25 Secrets To A Loving, Lasting Marriage

Romance is making fun of each other. It's cooking eggs together and watching movies on the couch when it's raining out. It's sex in the shower (hot sex). It's nakedness. It's sweat. It's anxiety and fear and tears and heat. It's passion. Romance is the way you feel when he says he's on his way and you know he's really coming—when you hear his footsteps on the stairs. It's wearing perfume because you want him to smell it. It's buying new underwear because you want him to peel it off you. It's sitting on his lap when he doesn't expect you to, but it doesn't surprise him at all. It's all the wonderful things we see in romantic comedies and that some of us are lucky to experience in real life.

But romance is also dealing with situations as they come along. It's not walking away. It's not breaking up over the phone: Just throw my stuff out; I'm not coming to get it. Romance is a second chance: Meet me for dinner. C'mon, let's talk this out.

It's a hand in yours; it's a shoulder for your heavy head. It's showing up when you say you will, not shutting your phone off, changing your number, your address. It's tender understanding, fragile but strong. It's honest. It's patient and sweet and it's picking the other person up when they can't stay above water because they're scared, so scared they're breathless. Romance is giving of yourself, working through whatever comes up. Sex is Good for You! Ten Passion Truths