11 Real Stories of People Who Gave Up Everything for Love

Sometimes love asks for more than just flowers and promises, it demands everything. In this collection, you’ll find real stories of people who walked away from comfort, careers, and even family ties, all for the sake of love. Their choices were bold, risky, and unforgettable.

• Met her on a cruise. The weekend after the cruise, I drove 5 hours each way to spend the weekend with her. That’s not the crazy part.
  The following weekend, I was texting her Friday night, she told me that if I came to get her, she’d come with me to spend the weekend with me. I left at 10pm, got back home around 9am. Spent a great weekend together, drove her back home Sunday night.
  Her husband was not happy with her when she came home. © pr0crast*** / Reddit
• We were dating for six months. He was drowning in student loans and working two jobs. I had savings from a family inheritance.
  We weren’t even engaged. But I paid it off. Every cent. People called me naive. But, I didn’t listen.
  Later, I found out that the real reason he couldn’t pay off his loans was that he’d been putting aside every spare dollar to secretly save for a ring. He wanted to propose the right way, when he felt worthy.

• I drove 700 km in a 125cc motorcycle that couldn’t pass 95 km/h to spend a weekend with my first love. It was the happiest days of my life. © Yalado / Reddit
• My dad went to a different university than my mother. They were 6 hours apart for 3 years and my father wrote her a letter a day and two on Sat and Sun. He would write them in code sometimes so she would have to figure them out.
  One time he wrote a note on the inside of a toilet paper roll. We still haven’t figured out how he did it. They used to mail each other their clothes after being slept in. They couldn’t afford long distance, so he used to call her and let the phone ring once when he was thinking about her. © bobby_*** / Reddit

• About 3 months into our relationship, I noticed he was buying me flowers. A lot. And specifically sunflowers, which were my favorite flowers. I never told him that either, I just assumed he picked a flower and assumed it my favorite.
  I’ve never had a man do that for me, so it was definitely questionable but in a good way. I eventually asked him, why are you buying me flowers so much, and why only on my off days? Am I missing something, basically?
  He explained to me that he noticed a necklace hanging in my car that my father bought me when I was 18. It was a sunflower lock necklace that opened on the inside and said “You are my sunshine.” I remember him asking me about the necklace, and I explained to him that my father gifted it to me and I hadn’t removed it since. I didn’t think anything of it, but that’s how he figured out that sunflowers were my favorite.
  He then explained how he noticed all, and I do mean all, of my tattoos had flowers incorporated into them. As somebody with 13 tattoos, you can imagine that’s a lot of flowers. It became clear to him that I genuinely loved flowers, even outside of the romantic stance on them.
  Why did he buy them for me only on my off days? He said he noticed with the first bouquet he bought me, that I spent a lot of time trimming the leaves and stems and arranging them in a vase, basically putting a lot of care & time into them, and he wanted me to have time to set up my flowers without rushing so he felt off days were the best time to do so.
  When I get angry at him, I think about that exact conversation with him and remember how genuine and kind he is and how thankful I am to have somebody like that in my life. © Unknown Author / Reddit

• I had a seizure while having a shower. My husband heard me drop from another room and came to help me, and although I was unconscious, he finished washing the conditioner out of my hair and then carried me to the bedroom and brushed my hair while I was passed out so I wouldn’t wake up with knots.
  To re-read that, it sounds creepy, but I guess it really is one of those ’you had to be there’. © RiverSong2123 / Reddit
• We broke up because I was scared. It was too serious, too fast. He didn’t beg or text. But every day, he waited at the coffee shop across the street from my office.
  Two months after, he stopped showing up. I walked in. The barista looked up and said, “He left this for you.”
  It was a small notebook filled with letters he’d written to me, one for each day he waited. Just pages of hope, patience, and quiet love. I didn’t know how to react at first, but that night, I called him. He didn’t say much, just, “I’ve missed you.” Fast forwards 6 years, we’re happily married with 2 beautiful kids.

• My Irish partner moved to England for me. We lived in Ireland for a year, but he couldn’t find work and I hated my job. We were barely scraping by, and my boss called me into the office and told me my English accent was “snooty” and it was offputting to customers. That night, I got a call telling me not to go in the next day.
  We spent a week miserably trying to find a way to stay. When it became clear that the money I had left would either pay another month of rent or cover our moving costs, we had a blazing argument in the street where he told me to go and I walked away.
  Two minutes later, he came running after me. We moved to England, stayed with my family for a few months, he found a job in a week, we hustled and got a place of our own.
  That was four years ago. My due date for our second child was yesterday. We got engaged last New Year. I’m so glad he didn’t let me go. © kateykatey / Reddit
• My boyfriend knows that I’m trying to actively lose weight, and he also knows that money for my family is tight and every penny (UK) is accounted for.
  On my birthday a couple months ago, he offered to buy me a whole new wardrobe of clothes for when I’m down to my target weight.
  For some people, it may not be that much of a big romantic notion, but to me, it meant everything to me that he would be so generous. © Swanny767 / Reddit

• I casually mentioned I liked sourdough bread on a date once. And she brought me half a loaf the next time she saw me. I hadn’t been able to find a good bakery up until then. Just thought it was really sweet. © tellmetheworld / Reddit
• My girlfriend asked me to marry her one day after taking pictures by the river. It was a good day. We went back to her place and I played some music for her, and we talked for a while. She just looked at me and said all serious, “Will you marry me?”
  I cried. No knee, no elaborate plan, no showboating, and a role reversal. She has always been shy and reserved, and I never expected her to be so brave, but somehow it was that easy for her. She didn’t even plan it, she just looked at me and asked me because she felt it was right. I said yes, of course. © ***Oracle / Reddit

Discover how the smallest gestures made the biggest impact, these 15 stories will make you see gifts in a whole new light.