16 People Reveal What Their Partners Do That Makes Them Feel Truly Loved / Bright Side

After reading these stories, it really hits home how some people truly understand what “through thick and thin” means. The way they stand by each other through everything is just heartwarming. It makes us hope that everyone finds a partner as loving and dedicated as the 16 couples featured here, because that’s the kind of love we dream of.

• My wife loves pickles. They are her favorite food in the world. When she buys pickles, she buys two jars so that there is never the possibility of running out.
  When we first started dating, back before I learned about her pickle obsession, I stole the last slice of pickle from her plate. I pulled the “HEY, What’s that over there?” and pointed wildly. YOINK. Pickle gone.
  She was livid. Absolutely furious that I had eaten the last pickle in the house. For weeks, every day she mentioned the pickle. Years passed, and she’d still make comments along the lines of “Well at least you didn’t eat the last pickle. OH, WAIT.” etc.
  It’s been 9 years since the pickle drama. My wife, being 9 months pregnant, has been having insane pickle cravings. Yesterday, she gave me the last slice of pickle in the house and said, “I love you this much.” timbit1985 / Reddit

• “Every morning, my wife of 18 years gets up before me and makes coffee. She doesn’t drink coffee.” Sandbocks / Reddit

• “He wakes up in the middle of the night and kisses me while still half asleep. That makes me feel like even when he’s semi-conscious, he wants to show me he loves me.” D****_of_Vengeance / Reddit

• After a rough week at work, I came home completely drained. My wife didn’t ask me to talk about it, she just made me a cup of tea, sat next to me on the couch, and held my hand. It was one of the simplest, most powerful gestures of love I’ve ever experienced. She didn’t need to say anything; she just knew exactly what I needed.

• “The way he still looks at me. When I get out of the shower and there’s lunch waiting for me. How some nights he wakes up in the middle of the night and pulls me closer to him because I’ve moved too far away, or even when he pulls me closer in all situations. How he lays in bed with me every morning even though he’d rather go sit on the couch and wake up.
  The sacrifices he makes for me every day. That he tries his best to make sure I am smiling. He’s always there when I need him, no matter the time or place. There are so many things that he does every day to let me know he loves me.” Attollo / Reddit

• I loved my mother, and my wife knew how much she meant to me. My mom was a single parent who raised me and my two sisters. When she passed suddenly in 2024, I was shattered.
  Without telling me, my wife called my sisters and secretly planned a tribute I wasn’t expecting—a cozy evening where we all gathered to share our favorite memories of her, along with the old songs she used to sing to us. It was a moment of healing that reminded me of the love we all shared.

• “When I’m stressed out and miserable because of my job, he always says, ’Just quit. We’ll be okay,’ when he knows full well that we need the money my job brings in. He’d rather have to scrape and scratch to pay the bills than see me unhappy. And because I love him, I keep working.” DiffidentDissident / Reddit

• We were having a tough time financially, and I had been feeling guilty for not being able to provide as I used to. One day, my wife told me to get dressed, and she took me out for a simple dinner. It wasn’t fancy, but the fact that she had planned something to make me feel better left me in tears.

• “He always tries to give me the last bite of whatever we’re sharing, even if it’s insanely delicious. We also have tickle fights (I usually lose) and when I’m finally done giggling, he looks at me with this adoring face that makes me feel so loved.” scienceasf*** / Reddit

• After I lost my job in 2020, I felt completely horrible. But out of nowhere, my wife started bringing more money into our house. At first, I thought the worst (like maybe she’s cheating on me with other men).
  But as I went through my job hunt, I was petrified to find out that she had been secretly taking on extra shifts at her job and even picked up a freelance gig. She did it all without telling me, not wanting me to feel any worse than I already did. The realization that she was working so hard for us, while I felt helpless, left me feeling both guilty and deeply loved.

• “He is forever trying to take worse and worse pictures of me. While I’m eating, when I’ve just woken up, if I’m sick, if I’ve done something really stupid… the worse I look, the more pictures he takes.
  Then he uses these (and only these) pictures as his backgrounds on everything… computer, phone, iPod, whatever. It is so annoying, but I love that that’s how he likes to be reminded of me, how I actually am and not at my best.” HowNarrow / Reddit

• When I was in the hospital recovering from surgery, I never expected my wife to go out of her way to make me feel special. But she did. Every day, she’d bring me small things, like my favorite books, snacks, even little notes of encouragement. Those little acts of love made a tough time feel just a bit easier to handle.

• “The other day, I was having a really bad day. Just sad and upset and generally horrible. So we’re laying in bed watching TV and during a break he goes to the kitchen for whatever reason.
  When he gets back, he hands me a burnt marshmallow on a stick. Because he knows how much I love burnt marshmallows and that it would make me happy. Needless to say, my day was instantly better, and I love that guy a lot.” brokenpheonix / Reddit

• My wife and I met in college, and she was always my biggest supporter. But the real test of her love came years later, when I was diagnosed with a chronic illness. There were days when I couldn’t even get out of bed, and she never once complained.
  Instead, she researched treatments, rearranged our schedule to accommodate doctors’ visits, and stayed by my side, holding my hand during my toughest moments. Her love never wavered, and in that, I found the truest form of devotion.

• “My girlfriend tries to stay awake until I come home. I tend to work a lot of late nights, but she’s more of an ’early to bed, early to rise’ kinda girl, so she always tries to stay awake so she can at least say goodnight. She’s studying abroad right now, and she still tries to stay awake until I come home from work so we can say goodnight.” thom3804 / Reddit

• My wife and I made a promise on our wedding day: we would never let each other go, no matter the challenges we faced. It was put to the test when I went through a difficult period with my mental health.
  I wasn’t easy to be around, but she kept her promise, never once walking away. She held me when I couldn’t hold myself, and she kept telling me, ’We’re in this together.’ That unconditional commitment is something I’ll always be grateful for.

Before you go, take a look at another article, where we highlight 6 fashion trends that will continue into 2025. It’s a quick read and could give you some good style inspiration.