Was I IN love with you?

One of my very good girl friends just asked me... "what's the difference between loving someone and being IN love with someone?"

She brought up this question when she asked me about this guy I used to date years ago. Things didn't go well between me and him and we ended up being good friends. She asked me if I loved him and if I was depressed after the "break up".

I told her, well.. I loved him but I wasn't IN love with him.

The difference, I told her, was this:

I loved him because I cared for him and I wanted his company most of the time. I loved him because he was always there for me when I needed him. I loved him because of the way he held my hand as he led me towards the cave by the beach. I loved him because he took care of me always wanted to see me happy.

I kinda knew I wasn't IN love with him because my love for him wasn't growing. It stayed the same. When we kissed, I didn't feel sparks and I didn't feel any passion no matter how torrid the kiss was. We held hands most of the time, but the only heat I could feel was the normal human body heat being exchanged and my palm was sweaty not because I was nervous or giddy with delight but because it felt naturally warm inside his warm hands. No feeling.

But I tried to be IN love with him. It didn't work. The feeling was mutual and, unfortunately, he beat me to telling the truth. He said, "I think we should just be friends". My heart hurt, naturally. The feeling of rejection pained me like a thousand arrows shot through my heart. He actually said afterwards, "You're a great girl. The world needs more people like you". (Which to this day, I still don't understand why he said that!)

I told him I wanted to be alone, and he respected me. I love him for that. It took me a week to heal. A week full of walking by the pier by myself and watching the sea lions play. A week full of coffee. A week full of train rides going particularly nowhere then coming back home.

A week later, he asked me out for dinner. I accepted graciously. We talked as friends. I love him for this. He talked about the other girls he dated and I talked about the boys I dated. We laughed. I love him for this. We both knew that we were great as friends and that's how it will always be. We had our moment, at least we tried. I love him for that.

I love him as my best guy friend and I will cherish the memories we had, both good and bad. I can really say, I love him but I'm not IN love with him and I know it goes both ways.