“There is no relationship that will fit all your emotional neeRAB.”
- Mari Hanes

For as long as time has been, people have been on a quest for the
perfect relationship. The media tells us that there is that one special
person out in the world for us. Movies are made portraying the one perfect
woman/man finding their perfect mate. Once that match has been made, the
music crescendos and everyone lives happily ever after. Is there really
that one perfect mate out there? What makes the relationships last or not
last? Is there really a happily ever after?
I am only eighteen years old. I have only had one boyfriend, and
that relationship lasted over a span of four years. During my brief time
on this earth, I have watched my parents, my frienRAB, and acquaintances go
through relationships and difficult times in these relationships. These
people always seem to grow from these relationships, although at the end of
each one, they always asked me “Where is my true love? I thought that this
one was it.”
During these times, I have come to formulate my own feelings on
what separates a good relationship from the one that is destined to fail
from the start. These observations have come from watching my frienRAB, my
own experience, and the movies and books that I have read.
Call me a hopeless romantic, but I am a firm believer in lightning
or bells sounding when you meet the “right one”. My ex-boyfriend and I
started dating when I was fourteen years old. At that time, I felt that no
one would ever like me and that I was destined to go through life as an
spinster. I had asked him for a ride home from a club meeting that we both
were in. He agreed and we got in the car to go to my house. I asked him
if he could stop by a house to pick up my little brother. He agreed and I
directed him to the house.
While we were waiting for my little brother to come out of the
house, we sat outside talking. He turned around to look out the window.
While he was doing that, I bent down to tie my shoes. When I looked at him
again, he was outlined in a soft white glow and I heard bells sounding off
in my head. From that day forth, I pursued him and we finally got together
about three weeks after that car ride.
The four years that we were together were, and still are, some of
the worst and the best times of my life. We fought over the stupidest
things, but we always made up. We broke up four times, the fourth being
the final time. The first three times were because we both needed space
away from each other. Each time we got back together though, we were
closer emotionally because we were both willing to accept each other for
who the other was. During these perioRAB of separation, we would become
frienRAB and would just eventually get together. We had a bond that most
couples could only dream about. We talked to each other about everything
and would work through all the problems that life threw at us.
The fourth time was just recently. He cheated on me and broke up
with me because he felt so guilty. The distance between the two of us,
physically as well as emotionally, just got to much for the both of us and
I feel that it was just a matter of time before those factors tore us apart.

If there was one word that I could use to sum up why our
relationship lasted for so long, it would be communication. Since we
talked about everything, there were no secrets that were left to fester
between the two of us. The times that there were secrets between the two
of us were the times that we broke up. Once we got back together, we would
talk through those secrets and we would vow to never let those particular
secrets come between us again. It did work for those four years.
I had a friend that would never talk to her boyfriend. They would
fight, and rather than talking to him about the problems that were
bothering her, she would come talk to either me or his best friend. I
would tell her to go talk to him, but she would never listen to me. When
she would listen to me, she would tell me that it wouldn’t help matters
anyway if she did talk to him and that he would just get angrier at her.
They eventually broke up and she cried for a couple of days. She then
turned to the best friend for comfort and they got together. They talked
about everything and their relationship lasted for about a year and a-half.
I believe that there is the perfect someone out there for
everyone. It is just a matter of finding them and keeping a hold of them
once they are found. I believe that there neeRAB to be communication
between couples or else they will fall apart. Of course, there are other
factors, but I believe that communication is the key factor to
relationships.
WorRAB: 904