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Feelings I had for my classmate were obviously one-sided (pretty sure of it), so I made a reasonable decision to never confess to not make things awkward. In a few years since we graduated I finally moved on, although I never loved anyone this much since.

Yet all this time I had a desire to tell her about them. I would definitely want to know if someone loved me this much ever. Would she? I don't know. I don't even know if she is in a relationship right now or not.

I would really want to cite some scientific study that "Over 80% of girls have their self-confidence lifted after being told they were secretly admired (p<0.05)", but can't find one.

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[-] kilgore_trout@feddit.it 1 points 20 minutes ago

I did it; it was appreciated.

Someone else did it with me; I appreciated.

[-] PapaSkwat@lemmy.today 4 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 14 minutes ago)

No.

Dude, let's be real here. She doesn't share the same feelings for you, and never did.

She won't think this is cute. She won't think this is romantic. She won't see you in a better light. Move on. Doing stuff like this, are the cringe things that annoy women.

Just move on. This isn't high school, so why do you wanna continue being the awkward high school guy? She's not you're freakin soulmate. lol

Focus on finding the right person for you and stop tripping over stuff that's in your rearview mirror.

And for the love of everything holy and unholy, stop doing awkward shit like this! Your post is cringe enough, but hey, at least you are thinking before you do it. But your posts, are making me think you haven't changed at all.

I read your post out to my gf just now, and she rolled her eyes and said, "Oh god, one of those guys. Is he an incel?" Then laughed.

I'm not saying you are, but most people are gonna have the same reaction. OP, you are way too old to be acting like an awkward teen. Stop.

[-] colourlessidea@sopuli.xyz 8 points 2 hours ago

Tell her the day after you no longer feel the need to

[-] Hacksaw@lemmy.ca 8 points 4 hours ago

"I used to have a big crush on you" totally legit, playful, good way to see if she was ever into you.

"I used to love you" that's weird. If you're still friends don't you still love her at least platonicly? The explanations you've been giving in this thread can only make the situation more strange and more awkward. Love means a lot of things to a lot of people so it's a weird word to use in the past tense about a friend you used to also be attracted to.

[-] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 1 points 2 hours ago

Meh, why not? It shouldn't be a big deal, not for her or you, its in the past

I was in love with you, if anything, should he a nice little tid bit to know

Its better than "I hated you"

[-] MojoMcJojo@lemmy.world 15 points 10 hours ago

Right now it's weighing on you. When you tell them you are taking the weight off of you and giving it to them to carry.

[-] swordgeek@lemmy.ca 26 points 20 hours ago

Don't do it.

As a general rule, this is a terrible idea. If there are exceptions, it's clear from your comments that thus is not one of them.

This entire desire is to boost your ego - to validate that your unrequited 'love' (crush) made her life better, because you're such a great guy.

Lwt it go, and grow up a bit more.

[-] nitroemdash@lemmy.wtf -5 points 10 hours ago

This entire desire is to boost your ego

I know it's not, but I don't think I have a way to prove the contrary over text correspondence, so think as you want.

[-] amio@lemmy.world 8 points 9 hours ago

Swordgeek has a point - people will have selfish ideas, for selfish reasons. It's just not very pleasant to have to admit, and therefore people often won't do it, even to themselves. This makes ulterior motives a lot easier to spot when they're not your own, and obviously something is up, here.

So if, deep down inside, you happened to be hoping for some kind of self esteem boost or stroked ego... that doesn't seem very likely. And even if it was, probably not worth bothering a former acquaintance over.

Whatever you were hoping for, you seem pretty hellbent on it - you don't need to be honest with strangers on lemmy, but might want to re-check your actual motivation here with yourself, because this is stuff that gets creepy real fast.

I would really want to cite some scientific study that “Over 80% of girls have their self-confidence lifted after being told they were secretly admired (p<0.05)”, but can’t find one.

You want something like this because it seems to rationalize the thing you wanted to do anyway. It is not your real reason for wanting to do it, but you'd have some kind of excuse for a thing people are lining up to tell you is a Bad Idea.

[-] Ozymati@lemmy.nz 27 points 22 hours ago

You don't love her. You barely know her. It's been years, you have no idea what she thinks, what she's done, what she would do, etc.

What you love is some ideas you have about her.

You never dated her. You never saw what she was like outside of class, at home, at work, with her friends. You don't know if she's honest, or cruel. You don't know what her political beliefs are, or her religion. Would she kick a puppy? Is she an addict? Is she selfish or generous? Is she clean or slovenly? Does she have a partner? Does she have kids? Is she even hetero?

This is all aside from the fact that you're imagining a connection that you know isn't there. Telling her has nothing to do with her and everything to do with your own ego.

This way of thinking with the fantasy of loving someone you don't really know and the idea that your feelings years later are important enough to barge into her life with a confession of love without even finding out who she actually is and what her circumstances are... This is a red flag that even in the incredibly unlikely event that she's single and into you, you are not going to be good for her.

[-] justaman123@lemmy.world 2 points 13 hours ago

I did once she was pretty cool about it, not entirely sure how one-sided it was but I never made a move. She didn't reciprocate

[-] DudeImMacGyver@kbin.earth 15 points 21 hours ago

You seem young and infatuated, probably not a good idea either way though.

[-] Windex007@lemmy.world 35 points 1 day ago

I think there are a lot of things at play here. Ultimately I don't think you should, though.

The fact that you still want to tell them is suspicious. I think you're not being honest with yourself. Your ulterior end game is a hope of some type of reciprocation. You haven't moved on.

Just because (assuming it's even true) a statistical model of a gender says "they probably would like it" is irrelevant. Would this individual like to hear it? It sounds like you don't know. If you don't know them well enough to anticipate how they would react, then I think it's pretty safe to say they don't know you well enough to receive the message "I used to love you" in a way that could ever come out as a net benefit to them.

I empathize immensely regarding your position. But as a 3rd party observer, don't do it.

[-] Uli@sopuli.xyz 6 points 12 hours ago

Additionally, even if there is no reciprocation expected, from their perspective, they will think this is in the hopes of reciprocation. And the more OP tries to convince them it's not, the less convincing it will be. That kind of contact, regarding feelings from the past, just makes one instantly defensive and apprehensive about the idea that they may soon have to rebuff an advance. Which means finding any excuse to not socialize, respond to texts only minimally, don't do anything which could feed into the idea that you are getting closer to them which could provoke an advance with underlying expectations and potentially a negative reaction upon rejection. It's an inherently uncomfortable situation because of that underlying subtext of motive that doesn't go away with any amount of explanation. There are many routes into so many open hearts out in the world. But this route does not lead to love, platonic or otherwise.

[-] Canconda@lemmy.ca 46 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

although I never loved anyone this much since.

Attraction /= love. You did not love her.

Yet all this time I had a desire to tell her about them.

You have a desire to have your attraction to her validated. You are essentially cat calling her but in ultra slow motion.

I would really want to cite some scientific study that "Over 80% of girls have their self-confidence lifted after being told they were secretly admired (p<0.05)", but can't find one.

Ya cuz in real life it would be "over 99% of women have experienced mental anguish from being told they were secretly admired."

Don't insert yourself into her life, or any woman's life for that matter, just so you can wag your attraction to her in her face. It's categorically in the same bucket as unsolicited dick picks. You're doing it for yourself, not her.

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[-] femtek@lemmy.blahaj.zone 20 points 1 day ago

The only time I have told someone about feelings I had long ago is when we started hanging out again and they were open to reciprocate. Not an out of the blue cold call.

[-] Canconda@lemmy.ca 6 points 21 hours ago

To be clear, in this context NOT telling them would be the wrong decision. Very, different from OPs situation.

[-] IWW4@lemmy.zip 34 points 1 day ago

No it is weird and creepy.

The person you think you loved doesn’t even exist anymore and it is highly likely they never did.

You had a childhood crush. Leave it to the sweet memory of the past.

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[-] HobbitFoot 17 points 1 day ago
[-] Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world 21 points 1 day ago

Honestly, if this is something you really want to do, I don't think it's a bad idea, but you do need to be careful.

Don't make it creepy. Don't use the word "love". You did not love her, you had a crush on her. Keep it simple. Keep it friendly.

Something like "Hey, (something) just reminded me of you, and I wanted to say hi. I don't know if you ever realized it, but I had a little crush on you in school. Hope your doing well!"

No romantic poetry, no talk of love or soul mates. You just throw it out there, and let them control the narrative. If they never respond, you never follow up. If you talk as friends, then be friends. If they secretly had a crush on you this whole time and want to get together, congratulations!

[-] amio@lemmy.world 3 points 9 hours ago

Based on OP's other replies it's just trolling at this point, but if he wasn't, everyone is so much better off by just leaving this alone. It was a weird idea from the start and every last post is another nail in the coffin for anything good coming out of this.

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[-] AskewLord@piefed.social 11 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Entirely depends on if the person is chill and can laugh at it or if they will freak the fuck out and never talk to you again.

Also, you had a crush. You were not in a relationship with this person. You did not love them.

[-] Dookieman12@piefed.social 14 points 1 day ago

I've seen it go both ways. Some reveal feelings they also had. Some are creeped out and let it put a whole different perspective on your whole history together. If you decide to tell them, start by saying that your feelings are in the past and that you don't expect anything to happen, you just felt you needed to share.

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this post was submitted on 13 Jul 2026
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