When I think about love, the kind I want to give and the kind I hope to receive—my mind doesn’t go to fairy tales or picture-perfect romance movies. It goes to something surprisingly nostalgic: Family Matters.
I want to love someone like Myra loved Steve Urkel. Wholeheartedly. Passionately. Unapologetically. Myra saw Steve in all his quirky, nerdy glory and adored every bit of him. She didn’t try to change him, mute him, or make him more palatable for the world. She celebrated him. I want to love someone like that; openly, without hesitation, and with complete acceptance of who they are at their core. I want my love to feel like a safe place where someone can show up exactly as they are and know that’s more than enough.
And just as deeply, I want to be loved like Steve loved Laura Winslow. Relentlessly. Faithfully. Without conditions or expiration dates. Steve loved Laura even when she didn’t love him back he never tried to earn her with grand gestures or fake versions of himself. He just was, and his love remained. There’s something beautiful about being cherished not because of what you do, or what you look like, or how you fit someone’s mold, but just because you exist. That’s the kind of love that makes people grow, heal, and thrive.
I want to be in love without conditions.
No checklists.
No “you have to change first.”
No “if only you were more like…”
Just love. Pure and simple.
I want us to support each other when life gets hard and celebrate each other when it doesn’t. I want us to laugh through the silly moments, cry through the painful ones, and stand shoulder to shoulder through it all. Not perfect, not always easy, but true.
Because the kind of love I believe in—the kind that Myra gave, and Steve gave—isn’t about perfection. It’s about presence. It’s about showing up, day after day, even when it’s not convenient or easy. It’s about choosing each other, again and again, no matter what the world says.
That’s the kind of love I crave.
That’s the kind of love I’m ready to give.
And one day, that’s the kind of love I hope finds me.
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