The New York Times’ Modern Love column recently turned 13. To celebrate this milestone, the Times asked readers to send in true love stories, in just 13 words. What an impossible task! And yet, as the examples below illustrate, a small piece of one’s heart is indeed possible to arrange in a carefully selected 13-word-bouquet.
 
This month (it’s Valentine’s Day, after all) enjoy these flashes of love, and then put your own heart on the page, in 13 words. And as the examples below demonstrate, love isn’t limited to romance!
 
My dad calls my mom Love, almost as if that is her name.
Grace Gardner, Atlanta
 
I thought I was straight. She thought she was straight. We were wrong.
Rachael Ní Chonchúir, Ireland
 
Locked eyes with my baby nephew, he smiled. But maybe it was gas?
Rekha Mishra, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
 
Age 5, when love means naming your pet goldfish after best friend Molly.
Melissa Rodman, New York

Ready for more? Read these splendid splashes of love from around the world: Hadiyyah, M. Elyse Lynch, Kaitlyn*, Vanilla, EAurora, Fidgetsally, Shanti.