What does it feel like to be in love? How do you know when you fall in love? The former is an age-old question that has been answered a million times in rhyme and verse. I didn't know the answer until it happened to me.

I can't tell you the exact moment I fell in love, but I do remember the moment I realized I was in love. Falling in love was a process, which began on our awkward first date. While I certainly remember that first kiss, I had no idea that love was in our future.

After the first date, our relationship continued to develop for a couple of months until Nancy decided to leave the area for a summer job. We were both university students and getting a summer job between semesters was expected, but it really put a damper on things.

While she was gone, I stayed in the college town where we met. I accepted her absence for about four weeks, before my eyes started to wander. Fortunately, she cut her summer short and came back just in time. I was thrilled when she returned, but the thought of love still hadn't occurred to me.

When she came home, we resumed dating and began to find common interests. Our experiences moved us out of a careful, tentative relationship into one where we were comfortable with each other. Like most couples, we had long, serious conversations, laughed at the same jokes, teased each other, wrestled, enjoyed a lot of the same music, and gazed into each other's eyes after exploring every inch of our bodies together.

About five months into our relationship I took Nancy to my mother's house to have dinner with her and my sisters. It was a rare occasion when all four of my sisters were present. I expressed an opinion of some sort that my sisters disagreed with. As was typical, they were being critical of my position in a rather assertive fashion. As older sisters, they frequently offered unwanted guidance at will, never giving it a second thought.

As I was letting their playful assertiveness role off my back, my wife-to-be surprised me by suddenly speaking up to defend my position. Her effective retort made my sisters, all four of them, clam up. A rare event indeed. I glanced up at her and it was at that moment when I realized I was in love with her. There were no fireworks or romance that led me to realize I was in love, just a genuine interaction.

I can't really explain why that was the tipping point for me. Maybe it was because it demonstrated that she believed in me. That she recognized qualities in me that typically go unnoticed. Her actions showed me that she cared, and that meant a lot to me. Did she notice the quick glance I shot her way when Cupid's arrow pierced my heart? I don't think so, but she may have sensed something different later that evening.

~ Andrew Laufer