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Love Stories

Couple with 6-inch height difference proves 'short king/tall queen' relationships are beautiful

Height is just a number.

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TikTok loves to celebrate relationships that fit our culturally accepted norms. 'Big manly guy plus dainty girl' equals algorithm gold! Every week there's a new challenge spawning hundreds of videos: Can you lift your girlfriend with one arm? Can you pick her up and sit her on your shoulder? Can you throw her over your shoulder like a military soldier?

Refreshingly, one couple is breaking the mold. Meet Ellie and Lucas. Lucas Byrd is currently the number one ranked collegiate wrestler in his weight class — not too shabby. Ellie Holzman is a former D-1 volleyball and softball player. But they're social media-famous as a couple for reasons that have nothing to do with their athletic accomplishments.

Yes, this TikTok couple is best known for their 6-inch height difference. Lucas stands at a modest 5' 6" (ideal leverage for a wrestler) while Ellie towers over him at 6' 2" (perfect for volleyball spikes).

The two share an account (@ellie_and_lucas) and document their relationship there with the cutest videos you've ever seen.

In one video, he playfully picks her up and promptly topples over in the process — 'lift your girlfriend' challenges be damned. In another, she dons high heels and he has to reach on his very tippy-toes to kiss her. In another clip, they run a photo of themselves through a cartoon filter — which bafflingly switches their heights and makes Lucas taller!

Through it all, one thing is clear: The striking height difference doesn't bother them one bit. In fact, they seem to have a lot of fun poking fun at it and playing with people's expectations in some of their 'skits'. Their non-chalance may not have always been the case, however.


@ellie_and_lucas

Just a boy (and girl) ✨in love✨

In an interview with Big Ten Network, Holzman said that she and Byrd started off as great friends. He had feelings for her but initially she had trouble seeing past the height difference. And it's true — there is a lot of pressure, judgment, and cultural taboo attached to height in relationships. A large majority of women prefer a male partner to be taller than them — and on the other hand, most men prefer to be the taller one in relationships. So falling into a situation that doesn't fit that mold can be uncomfortable at first, and it can take some mental reprogramming to get used to it.

"But then once I got over it, it flourished into this kind of beautiful thing," Holzman said.

People can't get enough of Lucas and Ellie's viral love story.

Not only are they a charming and fun-loving couple that's easy to root for (hence their top video having over 1.5 million views), Holzman and Byrd are offering amazing representation for the 'short king/tall queen' couples out there who don't have nearly enough visibility.

"I love the height difference representation my husband is 4 inches shorter than me," one commenter wrote under a video.

"the height rep 😭❤️ I’m 5’10 and my bf is 5’5- wishing you two nothing but the best," said another.

The short guys, out there, in particular are loving this story. They've been told their whole lives that dating a taller girl is off limits — quite literally, out of reach! — and are stunned to see that that's simply not true. Comments pour in every day from people saying that Lucas "won life."

@ellie_and_lucas

Still get giddy for date nights 😊😊

"Short kings, we need to study this man and his confidence. It’s possible," one joked.

"Dude is living the dream," wrote another.

Ellie, too, deserves plenty of props for looking past cultural taboos to find real love. While short guys who 'land' taller girlfriends get applauded for somehow pulling off the impossible, women risk being judged, mocked, and looked down upon if their partner doesn't fit certain gendered norms. It's yet another unfair double-standard standing in the way of couples just looking for a real connection.

Giphy

Height disparity in relationships is getting more visibility these days, which is slowly helping to normalize it.

The best and brightest example has to be Zendaya, who is about 2-3 inches taller than her fiance, Tom Holland — even taller in heels on the red carpet! There's also Tina Fey and her composer husband Jeff Richmond who have a height difference of about 3 inches. And there's Daniel Radcliffe (5' 5") and his girlfriend Erin Darke (5' 7").

But nobody has Ellie Holzman and Lucas Byrd beat. The confidence and love radiating in their videos — however silly they may be — really is making a difference out there by helping to give other short guys and tall the girls the courage to go for it.

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Love Stories

Lovers share 5 ways to invest time instead of money with your partner on Valentine’s Day

Just you and your loved one, no marketing or credit card required.

Photo credit: Canva

Enjoy Valentine's Day without the need of extra cash.

Valentine’s Day is a special day in which we acknowledge and celebrate the loves in our lives. At least that’s what many marketers are counting on. While the holiday itself is nice, many people are bombarded with pressure to make the day special and that usually follows with several companies selling you expensive products, experiences, dinners, and gifts in order to make the day special.

But you don’t need a lot of money, or any money at all, in order to make the day genuine, authentic, special, and loving towards your partner. Many folks on Reddit and social media are sharing how to make the day special without spending a lot of money. Here are some the top suggestions we’ve found:


“Make a special homemade meal together.”

Taking a moment to cook together something special makes it an easy inexpensive gift for yourselves. It allows you to spend time together not just socially, but as a team to create something delicious. Many couples suggest making homemade pasta given how fun it is to make and how fresh it tastes.

That said, you don’t have to be culinary wizards. If you’re both too intimidated to make a whole meal from scratch, just make or bake a dessert together to share instead.

“Have a small bonfire.”

If you have a backyard, check local laws and your HOA if you have one to see if you can have a small private bonfire with your sweetie. Just enjoying roasting hot dogs and marshmallows, having sips of spirits, and cozying up with your partner while enjoying the warmth of the fire can provide a wonderful quiet romantic setting.

“DIY Spa!”

- YouTubeyoutube.com

Valentine's Day should be relaxing as well as romantic. One great way to do that is to give each other the spa treatment at home. Prep up some fresh towels and bedding for the evening and get some relaxing skin lotion or oil. Before the holiday, watch some massage tutorials on YouTube that you and your partner might want to try out on each other. If you want to go all out, search for bath bomb recipes to make at home and enjoy a bath together. During all of this, put together a Spotify or YouTube playlist of relaxing music or your favorite love songs to just vibe out in relaxing care.

“Star gaze.”

Couple star gazingPhoto credit: Canva

The outdoors are free and beautiful. If the weather is nice, grab a blanket and lay out on the ground with some snacks, wine, and/or a hot beverage to just hold one another while looking at the night sky. It’s simple, it’s cheesy, but it’s wonderful.

“Make art together!”

- YouTubeyoutube.com

A great way to relax at the end of the day and connect with your partner can be indulging in creativity together. Paint a picture together with each person contributing to a single art piece. If you’re crafty and already have the supplies, spend the evening making jewelry for one another or a clay sculpture. If you like art but don’t have anything special around the home, just drawing and coloring pictures for one another can be a cute, fun, and relaxing way to show off your love. Remember, none of it has to be “good.” It’s the fun together that matters.

Whether you take any of these suggestions or not, Valentine’s Day is as special as you make it. Whatever you and your partner want to do or not do together is what will make it great for you both.

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Love Stories

Heartbroken Argentine farmer planted a 7,000-tree 'guitar forest' in his late wife's memory

It came from an idea she'd had before she died suddenly in 1977 at age 25.

Photos from Google Maps by Santiago gomez Gomez and Aaraon C. I. Comba

The "guitar forest" in the farmlands near Laboulaye, Argentina, is visible from the air.

Losing a spouse is never easy, but the way Pedro Martin Ureta lost his wife, Graciela is particularly heart-wrenching. Graciela was 25 years old and pregnant when she died suddenly of a brain aneurysm in 1977. The Argentinian farmer was left widowed with four children and utterly devastated over losing the love of his life.

But a few years later, Ureta began what would become a decades-long project in tribute to his late wife on his farm near the town of Laboulaye in central Argentina. One day, earlier in their marriage, Graciela had seen a farm that looked like a milking pail from the air while flying over the fields. Inspired, she asked Ureta if they could plant something similar on their own land, but in the shape of a guitar, an instrument she greatly loved. He told her that they would talk about it later—but of course, later never came.

So two years after her death, Ureta and the children set out to create what Graciela had envisioned, as a living monument to her memory. Over four decades, they cultivated some 7,000 trees to create a massive guitar forest. According to Conde Nast Traveler, landscaping professionals thought he was crazy, so he and the field hands on his ranch took the work on themselves. Rather than plan out the rows of trees with conventional surveying methods, Ureta would line up the children in rows to determine where to plant.

Ureta planted mostly cypress trees for the body and blue eucalyptus trees for the neck, creating a colorful guitar shape 2/3 of a mile (nearly 1 km) long. In the early years, he battled pests that threatened the saplings, but eventually he was able to grow a thriving forest that honored Graciela's memory.

guitar forestThe fields around the guitar change color in different seasons.Photo from Google Maps by VIPUL CHAUDHARY

Due to a fear of flying, Ureta may have never seen the guitar forest from above in person, but it is visible on Google Maps. NASA has even documented the land art on its Earth Observatory website, saying "it has become a wonder for pilots and passengers flying over the region." In fact, the site has over 100 reviews on Google Maps, despite being a fly-over location, and people's tributes to his tribute are truly heartwarming.

"This is a guitar made of trees dedicated to his lost love as it was her wish to make this in their field. This is the best example of men in love can do anything. Hats off to the dedication of the husband who built this guitar shaped field over the decade to show his true love towards his wife who is no more. She must be smiling from the heaven seeing this!"

"Without words... This man deserves the gold medal for the most romantic... May God give him lots of life and be with him always..."

"Men just being men for the women they love. 🩷"

"Guitar hero for real!"

"Pure love."

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

The pain of losing a loved one can take a long time to heal from, and healing can take many forms. Planting trees, even if it's not nearly as elaborate of an undertaking as Ureta's, is a beautiful way to honor someone's memory—a tribute that lives on in their name, contributes to the health of our planet, and may even provide a home for other living creatures. It also makes a lovely sensory place to visit, where loved ones can sit in the shade, listen to the rustle of the leaves, smell and feel the bark and revisit memories of the person it was planted for.

We may not all be able to create a gigantic memorial forest, but we can certainly appreciate the love that compelled Ureta and his children to do so and how heartening it must be for them to imagine people thinking of Graciela every time they fly over it.


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