Q - Dear Annabelle, I am 19 years old. I met a girl a few months ago. It was not until 2 weeks ago that I really got to know her face to face. We talked, and I find every opportunity to be 'incidentally' there when she's there. She has been nice and friendly, (like to everyone else, I guess). But so far, even though it was only 3 weeks, we talked quite a lot, almost everyday. I asked her to a game of badminton. She came. I invited her to ice-skate next week. She said sure. Since then I have this feeling that I can't really focus on the things that I do. I say and act strangely. I smile almost all the time. I feel happy. But the problem is: How do I know whether this is just a teenage puppy love (crush) OR is this true love? And what should I do from this point onwards? A - Dear Ivan, Uh oh............now youâre in for it. Your brains have fallen out. (How can feelings that are so much fun be so troublesome?) If itâs a Îcrushâ it wonât last for long.....sheâll do something to irritate you and youâll move on to someone else. However, at 19, youâre certainly of an age to begin to have more mature feelings of Îloveâ. Love, Îrealâ love, lasts for a very long time and is there even when the Îlove objectâ doesnât behave in ways that we would like. What youâre operating under now is the Îhalo effectâ, which makes everything she does seem wonderful. However, be aware that once youâve ended up in the stage where youâre daydreaming about her, your schoolwork is in jeopardy and thatâs not a good plan. (It feels good to Îsmile almost all the timeâ, though, doesnât it?) This is really more of a fun time, to be enjoyed, savored and learned from. What you Îshouldâ do is just continue to be the you that you have been.....she seems to like that. Youâre not of an age to marry and she either will, or will not, be there when you are, so treat this as one of your ongoing Îpractice sessionsâ for how you behave when the ONE does come into your life. The ONE may actually BE this young lady, but you wonât know that for a year or more. Itâs always a good plan to treat young women with integrity and with the respect that indicates that you are a young gentleman of good character. It sounds as if youâve got a pretty good grasp of things........as tempting as it may soon seem to become involved sexually, thatâs not a good plan for many of the reasons youâve read in other letters Iâve answered. Have a wonderful time.....and, who knows what may happen? - Annabelle