1. You are used to strangers assuming you are in the puppy love phase of your relationship because you don’t have a ring on your finger and you look at each other like you would die for each other. Whenever others find out how long you have been together, they are clearly surprised.

2. By now, you are completely comfortable in your relationship. You don’t feel pressured to get married in order to prove how much you love each other. You don’t care if anyone else knows how happy you are together. All that matters is the two of you know.

3. You live together. You sleep together. You spend almost every waking moment together. You aren’t married, but you know each other as well as any other married couple. You are proud of how far you have come as a team.

4. Whenever one of your friends get married after being in a relationship for a much shorter time than you have been in yours, you aren’t actually jealous about them getting married before you. You are excited to see how their wedding goes so you know what to do and what not to do if you ever decide to tie the knot.

5. Whenever you see your families at holidays, they ask about marriages and proposals and rings. They try to figure out what is taking you two so long to make your relationship official. At every wedding, they glance at you and say you’re next. They seem to care more about when your imaginary wedding happens than you do.

6. People make old fashioned assumptions about why you aren’t engaged. They assume you are waiting around for him to propose but he just won’t make the move. They assume the guy is the problem, when really,  you aren’t engaged because you have both decided you don’t want to be engaged. You are on the same page. That’s why your relationship has worked for so long.

7. Your family already considers him family. They already refer to him as your fiance or even your husband because they know he is not going anywhere. They know he is here to stay.

8. Instead of wearing wedding rings, you wear promise rings. Or carry matching keychains. Or have complementary tattoos. No one else realizes this, but that doesn’t matter, because you aren’t trying to impress anyone.

9. You have been together so long that some people genuinely forget you aren’t married. You get holiday cards with his last name paired with your first name. You get asked about how your husband is doing at the hair salon and dentist office. You have stopped correcting people about your relationship status because you basically are married by now.

10. Maybe you are planning on waiting a few more years until marriage. Or maybe you never intend on getting married. Either way, you don’t need a piece of paper to remind you how much you care about each other. You are going to stay together forever. You are going to last a lifetime.