Exposed and Loved

I’m about to get as cheesy as I get—and it’s easy.

No effort needed.

Call it my American side—cheesiness comes naturally to me.

But let’s be real:

The road to him? It wasn’t simple.

And the road with me? Definitely not easy.

The belief I was missing—even though he showed it to me again and again—that I was loved, that I was his...

I didn’t always want to see it.

I had resistance. Big time.

To this beautiful thing called “love without pain.”

It didn’t feel natural to me.

We’ve been together for two and a half years.

Engaged for over a year and a half.

But the real shift—the moment I let love in—only happened four months ago.

Yeah. You read that right.

After years of being together, planning a life, rings and all...I still hadn’t fully let myself believe the love was real.Not because of him.

Because of me.

I had resistance.

Big resistance.

To the idea that love could be simple. Gentle. Without pain.

I’d never experienced that before.

He kept showing up.

Loving me as I am—50 POUNDS heavier, emotionally guarded, pushing him away with a million “reasons” why this couldn't possibly be real.

And he just stood there.

Calm. Certain.

He didn’t understand the drama.

He didn’t flinch.

He knew.

He felt me. Completely.

And I… couldn’t take it in.

Not really.

Until one night—just a regular night—we didn’t sleep in the same place.

We ended up on a long phone call.

I said something silly. Classic Meirav.

Not deep. Not poetic. Just something small and ridiculous that made us both laugh.

And he said:“I’m just crazy about you.”

Simple. No big speech. No romantic build-up.

But that sentence?

It broke something open.

It clicked.

After two and a half years.

After an engagement ring.

After all the doubt, the overthinking, the push-pull…That was the moment I finally believed him.

I felt it in my body.

I knew it was real.

And I let go.

And I realized—he’d been showing me all along.

Through action, not words.

Through his presence. His patience. His refusal to walk away.

He didn’t fall in love with the “best version” of me.

He loved the real one. The messy, moody, loud, deeply feeling, sometimes-exhausted Meirav.

And when that kind of love finally landed, I saw what this was:

Real. Safe. Unshakable.

Happy Love Day to the man who taught me what unconditional love actually feels like.

📷 Photo by the amazing @sarittzarfati, who gently insisted we show up and be seen. She was right.

💄 Hair & makeup by the always-on-point Dikla Hostik.

I am exposed.

And I am loved.

In every way.

Thank you.