Q - Dear Annabelle, I know from reading your Archives that you have heard a lot of questions like mine and the answer remains the same, but I want you to hear my story, it is about being in love. I met my boyfriend at school about a year and a half ago in one of my classes. We soon became friends. We both had other friends, (some the same), and our own girl/boyfriend. We always helped each other with our relationship problems and just plain had fun together. When we both were single one time, I guess you could, maybe, say "we fell in love". We eventually became a couple. We do a lot Ījust usā, together with our friends, and we have a lot of time to be alone individually or hang out with other friends and family. We love each other very much and seem to just "click". We have been together 10 months and things seem so right, we are both really happy. We continue our own interest but expand our horizons by trying each others interest or a totally new thing. We really enjoy doing all this and learning from each other.A nice thing about are relationship is that we don't pressure each other into sex we both want to wait until we are ready, which isn't for a little while yet. I was just wondering if you think this is love. I am guessing not like all the others, but it feels like magic, like I could never find anyone more perfect for me. Tell me what you think. A - Dear Cheryl, Sounds like Īloveā to me! Now, keep in mind that you are aware that Īrealā love is not just the Īmagicalā feelings that you are having right now, though those are pretty wonderful feelings to be having. This is a nice time of life....as long as your heart doesnāt get ripped out in the process. You sound mature enough to know that the Īloveā you will look for when you are of marriageable age is somewhat different from what you are feeling now. By the time you are 25+ you will have an understanding of Īthese thingsā that you do not have now, nor could I describe them to you. Itās just one of what I call, Īlifeās crystal bridgesā....those are imaginary bridges that you cross at different stages in your life. You cannot Īseeā them before you cross, nor can you explain to anyone who has NOT crossed them, what it is like to be Īon the other sideā. You say that you are considering being sexually active. What you are REALLY considering doing is playing baby roulette....(yes, you are). Unless, and until, you are ready to have your future take on an entirely new direction, for you to risk creating the life of an innocent is not in your, or in the as yet unconceived babieās, best interests. Keep in mind that this young man whom you find so fascinating now, may, or may not, Īmake the cutā by the time youāre twenty-five. Youāve read enough of the letters to me that you are, no doubt, aware that there are many young women out there who married and had children at much too young an age and are now, having come to the 25+ maturational curve, are bored out of their young minds and are saddled with the results of earlier, rash, decisions that they did not have the maturity to make. ĪLoveā is a wonderful thing, but it can cloud our thinking just at the time when clear, rational thinking would have prevented us from committing to a behavior that is not in our best interests. You sound like a bright young lady....give all of this some thought and, if possible, save sex for a marital relationship where the advent of children, (because all forms of birth control have a failure rate), will not be an unplanned disaster. - Annabelle