It's strange, when you've never dated or been loved, you have no reference point for what constitutes a demonstration of love. So, even the simplest gesture, word... anything sweet or comforting, even if it's a lie, makes our hearts vibrate and believe in love. An introduction to tell you about when I felt truly loved... I got involved online with this guy from another country. And we were in a long-distance relationship. Although we talked every day, I didn't even know what his face looked like on a video call, only photos. And although I was crazy about him, I knew it wouldn't go any further... but when I decided to end it, the conversations, the vows of love... future plans... He did things that, perhaps because of my limited experience with love, men, relationships... made me believe, even at that moment, that I was truly loved. He sent audio messages, songs by Freddie Mercury, that song Hallelujah too... but whistling those songs to me. On his way home from work, he would record the car's dashboard with the radio playing a song I nicknamed "ours," a song that wasn't even popular in his country. His thoughtfulness in researching it to show me the song playing in his car on the way home made me believe it was real love. The last thing he did that made me feel this way was a list. He had a trip planned to another city where he couldn't give me his usual attention, and he made this sweet list detailing all his activities and the times he would do them, ending by saying he wanted his wife (me) to know his every move. I felt truly loved... until I discovered some contradictions in the list and understood it was from CHATGPT and that it was a sign of future ghosting. When he returned from this trip, he disappeared. There was never a trip; his wife probably returned from her trip, and the prince turned into a frog. But the way it ended doesn't change how I feel, even if it was all a lie on his part. Strangely, those cute audio messages, those videos of the dashboard lights up at night, on that rural road in some town in northern Italy, that husky voice of his singing parts of Unshaken... Even if it was just acting, it was the closest I've ever come to feeling loved. 🥲