When I was little I used to believe that love was like a fairytale. Someday, my prince would come, he would be handsome and benevolent and courageous, and we would ride off into the sunset of forever in a blaze of glory and happiness.

Love, of course, is not so simple and fantastical. Over my twenty years I've experienced love. I've also experienced heartbreak. And really, they are actually quite similar: both of them leave you with only half of your heart, the former because you give it to someone else, the latter because they never give it back.

I'm also quite the romantic. I believe in grand gestures, true chivalry, and a love which lasts for all eternity. I believe in soul mates. Think The Notebook style love. And I've seen it before. I've seen elderly couples holding hands as they walk along, looking into each other's eyes with a depth of feeling that outsiders cannot fathom. And I've always held onto the hope that someday, I will find the person with whom I'm meant to be.

Life hasn't been so kind as to usher me directly into said person's path, though. While it would be nice if I woke up one day, headed outside, and bumped into the perfect man for me, that's not how reality works. Reality is much more inclined to make me take an emotional roller coaster ride the likes of which would terrify even the most hardcore.

There have been moments where I've felt so sure, so certain, that I've found the one, or that I will soon enough. Those are the high points of the roller coaster; the moments where your stomach works its way up into your throat and your heart tattoos a violent beat against your chest with a force that makes you feel as if you might explode. And then there are the low moments, where everything falls into disrepair and the beautiful world that you've built around yourself shatters into a million, tiny, pieces. I've experienced both.

Love doesn't have an age. It is timeless.

Naturally, I've also spent a significant amount of time dreaming up the man who will one day enter my life and never leave. He will be kind and understanding. He will be polite and gentlemanly. He will be honest and brave. He will be strong and courageous. He will be funny and silly.

He will make me laugh so hard that tears spring to my eyes and I wonder if I'll ever stop. He will make my heart perform more than just flips; it'll go skydiving because of him. He will make me feel safe and reassured and at peace in his arms.

I know that he exists somewhere. I just have to find him.