1. “Last month I was coming off a terrible week at work. Spent the night at my girlfriend’s house and was awakened in the morning by three kisses on my mouth and forehead and breakfast in bed. Literally the best thing ever and the timing was perfect and showed she’d been thinking about me. It was a simple gesture but really touched me.”

—Lewis, 28

2. “A puppy. It was especially awesome since I’d always wanted a dog but since my mother was allergic I never got to have one growing up. When she gave it to me she said ‘it’s time for you to relive your boyhood.’ Sweetest thing ever.”

—John, 25

3. “Not expressly a gift but when I was deployed to Iraq in 2006 my then girlfriend wrote me a letter a day. Sometimes it was just a note about what she was doing that day or a poem she’d read but she sent one every single day. We were able to talk on Skype, of course, but having something from her that I could hold in my hand really helped my mental outlook and her discipline about making sure I had a letter coming all the time revealed what a thoughtful person she is. We got married in 2008 and she’s the love of my life.”

—Matthew, 31

4. “A Playstation 4. It took on extra meaning because money was tight for me and all my friends who live far from me were buying them to play online together and I couldn’t afford to. So, basically she made it so I could play with my friends.”

—Rick, 24

5. “She took me shopping and showed me how to dress. Sounds funny cause I’m a grown ass man but I never really learned how to match things up and I don’t pay attention to style trends. Now I have a closet full of clothes that look good on me which pull double duty by making her think I’m hot while also no longer looking like a 12-year-old dressed me.”

—Ethan, 26

6. “This was right after college but before I was able to find a real job in my field. I was doing warehouse work and during the holiday season shit kicks off for real and I was pulling tons of overtime. As people that have worked in warehouses or retail know, holiday season actually starts in November I was usually so tired from work that I didn’t want to cook anything or go grocery shopping. So, what does my amazing girlfriend do? She goes out and buys groceries for me every week and makes at least three home cooked meals for me every week and has them ready in the fridge for me. It was completely overwhelming because I hated that shitty job and hated that I hadn’t been able to use my college degree yet to start a career. She made that whole period in my life bearable so I married her.

Best decision I’ve ever made.”

—Glenn, 28

7. “A surprise birthday party on my 21st birthday. I’d never had a surprise party before and she managed to get a bunch of my old high school friends to show up. Just extremely thoughtful and a step above the standard ‘get hammered’ 21st birthday experience I was expecting.”

—Alex, 22

8. “I was in a long distance relationship in the mid-2000s and I used to drive four hours to go see her probably twice a month. After the first couple of times I think I commented that the drive home was lonely after seeing her. The next time I visited she had a CD of meticulously chosen music for me to listen to on the drive home. She did this every time I came to visit. Even though it didn’t work out I still have all the CDs in a folio.”

—Marcus, 31

9. “Basically she made my childhood dreams come true by buying me driving time at Walt Disney World’s Ferrari experience. I had posters all over my walls and everything as a kid.”

—Jacob, 26

10. “A sweet ass Japanese knife set. I’d previously had these terrible, TERRIBLE cheap knives that I bought at Wal-Mart and couldn’t ever bring myself to spend the 400 bucks that a really high end knife set would cost. She just did it randomly after I complained about my crappy knives. Totally out of the blue and exactly what I wanted.”

—Steve, 29

11. “A home cooked meal once a week. I don’t know what it is about this but it completely changed the game in terms of our relationship. For me at least it suddenly felt way more real simply because I felt cared for.”

—Peter, 27

12. “She bought me an electric guitar and six months of lessons. It was the best thing anyone’s ever given me and something I never would have gotten for myself.”

—Tyler, 32

13. “Not a one time gift so much as an ongoing thing. Once a month she creates an at home date where she picks the movie, makes the popcorn, buys the beer, and I don’t have to make any decisions about the evening at all. It sounds like a small thing but I really look forward to everything on a date being totally taken care of. Plus, she always considers me taste when picking a movie.”

—Chase, 25

14. “I don’t really drink much but I do like to hang out with my friends every few weeks and stay out too late drinking. My sympathetic girlfriend always drives me to the bar and then comes and gets me at the end of the evening. The thing that’s really sweet about this is that she understands how important it is to just get to do guy things with my guy friends and supports it actively. It’s a really huge deal to me and definitely feels like a kind of gift.”

—Adam, 29