Romance is Subjective.

As a waitress, one of the most common things I get asked is whether or not an item is spicy. This is also a question I find very difficult to answer. That's because what one person finds spicy, another might find mild or even bland. I can't tell you how many times a guest has glared accusingly at me after taking a bite of a child's Kraft Mac N Cheese and hissed "You said it wasn't spicy!" It's so subjective...
That's how I feel about romance. What might make one person swoon might make me gag. Romance is subjective. Public proposals, messages written in the sky over the spring breakers at the Jersey Shore, and other such grand gestures are exactly what some people not only want but need in order to feel appreciated and loved. Whereas for me, the true romance is in the small gestures and the attention to detail.
My very first experience with romance was in the 7th grade at the sleep away camp I was lucky enough to spend three consecutive summers at. Alex Rodriguez (our lawyers have instructed me to admit he is no relation to the current mega-baseball star of the same name) was the cutest boy at camp, desired by all the 6th and 7th grade girls. Even the 8th grade girls thought he was hot. He was my camp boyfriend and I melted every time his chocolate brown eyes met mine. On the last night at camp, we slow danced to End of the Road by Boyz II Men. As he held me in his arms, he gazed into my eyes and sang along softy to the profound lyrics, convincing me in that one magical moment that our love would only grow stronger after we said goodbye.
Never mind that our long-distance relationship lasted mere weeks after camp ended. To this day, I still melt whenever I hear that song or listen as a guy croons softly along with the radio. Maybe that simple moment set me up for life with the idea that romance is less about the grand gestures and more about the boy you like looking at you like you're the only girl at camp...er, in the world. Or maybe it was watching my parents slow dance to Frank Sinatra in the kitchen while making dinner, spaghetti sauce bubbling away on the stove and me watching from the table where I worked on homework, thinking "Now that's what I want".
What about you? Do you need the bling, the dazzle, the show stoppers...or is romance for you something else entirely?