It’s a common thing for people to get an idea of what love is from your parents' relationship, or at least the relationship of someone close to you. This is very true for me. Not just because I saw the way they interacted every day, but because they reflect every aspect of love I have ever learned. In a world full of hookups and failed relationships, it’s refreshing to see two people still in love after 24 years and act as though nothing has changed since the beginning.

There was never a moment in all my 18 years of life where I thought for a second that my parents weren’t in love.

Every day when my dad came home from work he would kiss my mom and ask her about her day, listening closely. He always called her “Sweetheart” or “Honey-bun” and other sweet little names like that. I never once heard them fight, although there was the occasional argument about little things. They never raised their voices at each other and always worked things out.

My dad liked to buy my mom flowers, whether it was their anniversary, Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, her birthday, whatever. Sometimes he would just come home with some flowers for her and would say “just because”.

One of my favorite moments between my parents was when my dad and I were driving to work this summer. We had pulled out of the neighborhood when my dad made a small “Oh!” noise and reached for his phone. I asked him what he was doing and he replied simply, “I forgot something,” I assumed he was calling my sister, asking her to grab maybe his coffee or something like that, but I heard my mom pick up through the speaker and then my dad say, “Hi honey, I forgot to say I love you before I left. Have a great day!”

I couldn’t help but smile. It was such a small, pure thing to do, but a lot of people forget those things. My dad could have easily just shrugged it off and went to work, but he made sure that my mom knew he loved her, and just the act of calling her proved that he said this to her every day before he left.

My family got invited to a wedding in October, and I remember sitting at the reception with them, the DJ blasting old songs and country music and my mom would get up and dance and my dad would join her. At first, I was a little embarrassed, because not many kids want to see their parents dancing in public.

But I watched them, laughing at their choice of dance movies, watching them laugh at each other like they were in their 20s again, the embarrassment was gone. It was replaced with overwhelming affection for both of them. I am so lucky that I have parents who love each other as much as they do. I look up to both of them, as people and to their relationship. It breaks my heart to hear other people my age talk about their parents fighting or how their parents don’t show love like they used to.

My parents set the bar pretty high for what I want in a relationship, and I don’t see that as a bad thing.

They have shown me what a relationship looks like and how I should be treated when I get in one. They also show that it’s possible. Some people claim that no one loves each other like they used to, but my parents are living proof that that statement isn’t always true.