I have very little experience with love. Sure, I love my friends and family more than I love sunlight, but I have very little experience with romantic love. And I am okay with that. I am only 18, still discovering who I am as a person, trying to decide what I want to do with the rest of my life. But that doesn't mean that I don't know what I want when it comes to love. I know exactly what I want love to look like when I finally do share it with that special person, because I have the relationships role models: My parents.

My parents are the biggest influences in my life, and they've taught me so many things. What I am most grateful for, however, are the lessons that they've taught me about love. These are the lessons they've taught me without even realizing it; the lessons I've learned from observation over the last eighteen years that have made up my childhood.

Here are 10 lessons I've learned about love from watching my parents.

1. The person you're with should be undoubtably your best friend.

2. You should be supportive of each other.

3. Neither of you should lose track of who we are.

4. Do everything to bring your two families together.

5. Be comfortable together, even when doing nothing.

6. Enjoy the same things, while still having different interests.

7. Love each other in spite of what is sure to be many faults.

8. Put yourself first, each other second, and everyone else third.

9. Be open to change and growth.

10. Never forget how to laugh together.

I am so lucky that my parents love each other so much, because it has filled childhood, home, and life with so much love. I have watched the love they have for each other grow, change, and conquer every obstacle. Because of them, I have seen what I think love should be; what I think it should truly mean to love another person, totally and completely.