To PDM, when does "like" turn to "love"?
I once thought I was in love when I was 13-14. I was head over heels for this guy, I couldn't go a day without seeing him, we'd talk for hours on end, I snuck out of bed in the middle of the night to talk to him, when he smiled it made me feel better, I laughed at all his jokes, every love song I heard sounded like it was written just for him and me, and when I started seeing him for who he really was (and that I wasn't his one and only,) my world collapsed and I became severely depressed. I was also wrong.
I thought I was in love, and I'd have argued tooth and nail with anybody who disagreed. Retrospectively, I was merely horribly infatuated with this guy.
I suppose it comes down to how we define "love." I like to think that the love I have for my husband is more "grown up" and I like to compare it to the love that I have for my family or the love that exists between couples who have been together for decades. Since I acknowledge that I'm still young and am reminded of this on a near-daily basis, I realize my notions will likely change with time.
I should mention that the first relationship I was in was 99% online. (Not 100% as I think he and I spoke on the phone once or twice.)
Whether a relationship is online or in the flesh, emotions are invested about the same either way. The only real difference is that online, you miss out on tone of voice, body language, and it's hard to have "dates" (not too much you can really do aside from chat.) On the contrary, people, for whatever reason, tend to be more willing to share things about themselves they might otherwise keep hidden, so in that sense, how to say... I suppose that online you see reflections or a personality, whereas in real life, that same personality might reflect differently. Since I was and I am still quite shy, this was a nice bonus for me.
I do agree, though, that while I may argue that it's possible to love an online persona, you can't REALLY love the person behind the persona until you meet and spend time with him.
I'm sorry if the above seems a bit jumbled, but I'm more expressing my thoughts on the topic than specifically trying to answer your question.
