What is love? How do you know if you have ever been in love? Do you feel it? What does it feel like to be in love? Do you just know? These questions always crossed my mind, as, to my knowledge, I have never been in love.

So, I decided to ask my friends and family, who are either dating someone, engaged, or married, how they knew they were in love. Their ages range from 17-31 so it was interesting to see their takes on love. These were their responses:

1.

"I knew after the first date that I would be with him for a long time. I knew after a month that I loved him. I knew because of how comfortable I was. I am myself."

2.

"I fell in “high school love” about three months into our relationship. I knew it was real love about a year in. I knew because we were laying down snuggling on the couch and there wasn’t anywhere else I would rather be."

3.

"With my boyfriend, he said it first and I was surprised. I was so used to being the one who would fall first. With him, I didn’t really see it coming. I would say it was probably six months in and we were just laying in bed watching a movie and I just cuddled into him and he held me and kissed my forehead and it was kinda just a moment of pure bliss. I couldn’t imagine being with anyone else. And this wasn’t something either of us thought would happen but are so glad it did. It’s almost like the most simple things just make you the happiest and you feel like a dork because you’re always smiling and just feel so happy."

4.

"Well, I was recovering from a bad breakup and dating was the last thing on my mind. Graduating college and trying to land my dream job was my main focus. He was the first person who caught my interest in my sea of options but I still had a lot of recovering and self-love to do before I allowed someone into my life again. Trusting someone new was hard but about a month or so in he said: “I’ll be patient, I’m here to heal your heart.” That’s both when and how I knew I was in love and this was the one. Almost three years later, I feel the genuine love I’ve searched for in a partner and it strengthens every day. "

5.

"I knew my now husband would be my future husband the night we met. My heart melted when I met him. I thought he was the cutest, nicest human being ever. I knew I was in love with him when I keep thinking about him all time and wanted to spend time with him all the time. He didn't make me nervous at all. He made me feel a warmth and comforted. I also love the way he smelled and his aura."

6.

"I’d have to say that when we were at this bar with friends (early on in our relationship) we both went to the bathrooms (separate lol) and while I was washing my hands, my favorite band (Coldplay) came on and ironically it was one of his favorite songs “Fix You.” And we both came out of the bathroom at the same time and just looked at each other and hugged. Something in that moment told me that I was really falling for him. I feel like being “in love” (for me at least) didn’t happen all at once but gradually with every memory. Personally, my favorite moments were when we would go on car rides and just talk."

7.

"We were eating pizza in Nashville all relaxing while waiting for a concert to start. That's when I knew. I knew because my heart was so happy whenever I saw her."

8.

"I knew I was in love a couple months after I met my girlfriend and started dating and really started to discover my feelings of liking her. I knew I loved her by the connection we felt together we had a certain spark and combination of feelings that felt right, like to me, that’s what love is if that makes any sense."

9.

"It happened over time through shared experiences. That person goes through difficult times with you and supports you through family issues, death, loss of job, etc. You meet their family, hearing their backstory. You slowly start learning about one another and the relationship forms. You can be yourself around the person you love. If anything, they know you better than you know you."

10.

"I had my first boyfriend when I was 13 and we dated until I was 21. At the time, I knew I loved him a lot but had no idea what love really was until we had a huge fallout. I was devasted and heartbroken and to this day I'm still heartbroken. I didn't know I was that in love till now at 25. I now know that I truly love him because I find myself comparing and not feeling the same with other people I have dated. I know now it's love because of the way he treated me. He gave me his attention. He and I were best friends and could talk about anything. That's how I know it's love."