From the author of "SINGLE" You find this wonderful man or better yet, he finds you. In the beginning it's like wrangling a wild horse but eventually he submits to your charms and you become exclusive. You no longer wonder if you will see each other on the weekend, you only wonder what you will do together. You are at all of his family functions and he is a fixture at yours. Everyone knows you are together and neither one of you is dating anyone else or looking to meet anyone new. Somewhere along the way, a little after that first full year of you being exclusive, his family starts hinting about marriage and yours does too. At first you feel hopeful and respond with phrases like "someday" or "maybe" but after a while, you start to wonder if his initial slowness to commit was more than just a phase. You look up and it's going on three years and after all the discussion and sometimes even arguments over the topic of marriage vs. life partner vs. leave it like it is, you don't feel like you are truly on the same page. He gazes into your eyes and says things like "I hope we are together forever" but no proposal. Every article you read tells you that you should dump him and move on; your friends are split down the middle with one side pushing to you to give ultimatums and the other side telling you that should be happy just to have a man period. You go back and forth between resentful and grateful. You are the GIRLFRIEND