Today's column is an assortment of notes from my readers talking about love, romance and virginity.

JON: I knew it was love one day when we were sitting on the couch watching TV. I looked over at her, and she looked back at me. It was the first time in my life I had ever seen that look from anyone. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, and I knew exactly what it meant: It meant, "I love you, too."

I knew it was over 24 years later. During all our years together, the dog sometimes woke me up in the middle of the night to go outside. I would get back in bed, and she would rub my back with one hand to help me fall back asleep.

But that year, she stopped.

KATE: I knew it was over when my husband of nine years asked if we could make an "arrangement" after I caught him cheating.

CAROL: We had been together for a while. He had already asked me to marry him about 25 times. In fact, the first time we went out, he told me he was going to marry me, but I had my whole life planned out and a man was not in that plan.

I was in college at the time. We would do something together almost every day. One day I told him I couldn't see him that night because I had to study at the library. He asked if he could just come and say hello for a minute, and I said OK.

He drove 15 miles to the library. We talked for a minute or two, and then I walked him out to his car. He asked me if he could hold me. I knew right then that I loved him. I knew I'd better grab onto this guy because he was this crazy about me. We were married a few months later. That was 57 years, four kids and eight grandchildren ago, and I have never been sorry.

ROSE: I was on a first date with a guy I met online. When our beers arrived, my cheap date asked, "How much is mine?" That was our first and last date.

I spoke to him about that night a few months later and he said, "That's how I weed out the gold diggers!" LOL. How's that workin' out for ya?

MELANIE: I have dated a few virgins in my time, but I'm not sure I'll ever date one again. In my experience, it seems like if guys make it past their early 20s without doing the deed, they're either pretty religious (which is not what I'm looking for), or there are deeper issues. Performance anxiety becomes a real problem if a guy isn't normal and makes sex into this huge thing. If he doesn't initiate it, he might freak out when the moment arrives and "deflate."

That being said, when I worked abroad I knew one guy in his late 30s who, from the sounds of things, had barely even kissed a girl — he had never even French-kissed. He was definitely an eccentric character, and from the way he described his life it sounded like he had a really rough childhood.

Back then he was involved with — engaged to — a Japanese woman. When she flew in to see him, he asked her stay with friends. But he married her and now has a child, so evidently everything worked out.

Got a problem? Send it, along with your questions and rants to [email protected]. And check out my ebook, "Dear Cheryl: Advice from Tales from the Front."