Fifteen years old and in the back seat of a charter bus heading down I-95 en route from a field trip to New York City he told me he loved me. He proved it by licking the bottom of my shoe. I have been chasing that feeling ever since.

I remember what I was wearing: Mary Jane Dr. Martens, Bull Dog jeans, a red tint in my hair. We had gone to see Rent with our high school's English Honors Club, an association we had both joined as a front to get around my father's watchful eye. We didn't go … Read More

You never forget your first love. Whether it's your first crush, your first kiss, or the first time you even noticed boys existed, you always remember the joy they filled you with. The guys that come later bring to mind complicated, adult feelings like pain and heartache, but that first love is pure and perfect, especially in hindsight.

My first love was a celebrity. I grew up with MTV, watching Madonna roll around in a bridal gown and Billy Idol dancing with himself on a dingy roof. But there was one man I loved from the very first time … Read More

A new study says we should strive to do the impossible—never fall victim to puppy love. Actually, the exact quote: "If you want to find happiness in later life, it is best to avoid puppy love altogether."Well. Thanks for telling us now. It's about 10 years, 25 crushes and 60 disappointments too late, but your advice is indispensable. Really.In the new book Changing Relationships, a collection of love and relationship papers by British sociologists, the unanimous opinion seems to be that those vile, rose-colored lenses of youth make adult relationships less fulfilling. Without knowing it, those high school … Read More

During college I studied abroad in a place I didn't belong, and met one of the most unforgettable loves of my life.

Just after the Oslo Accords in 1993, the Middle East was more peaceful than it was before or has been since, and my interest in studying historical perspectives on western religions led me to sign on as the only non-Jewish student in a Boston University program to Israel. Weeks before embarking on this journey, a family blow-out over my new and rather conspicuous tattoo left me feeling disowned for no good reason, and I arrived in a strange … Read More

I have certain preconceived notions about people who marry their college sweethearts. It's not fair, I know, but I do.

Such people are conventional, conservative, and timid. They prefer comfort and routine to excitement. In other words, they're nothing like my wife and me.

Emily and I met on the first day of college. In our freshman dorm, full of Long Island sorority girls and future corporate lawyers, we were the only two people wearing dirty overalls and thrift-store flannels.

I had long hair and played guitar (badly), which was all the justification Emily needed for befriending … Read More

"Closer" was the title track on Goapele's 2001 debut album. It's also the song that Love Me Not—username of a fan on the singer's message board—will walk down the aisle to on her wedding day. "I've had people tell me that it helped them get out of an abusive relationship," Goapele says. "I've had a couple of women tell me they listened to the song while birthing their child. Someone told me that there was a fight happening in Oakland in the middle of the street, and a car drove by playing it really loud and [everyone] started dancing."

It's … Read More