My husband and I met back in 2001 on our elementary school’s Quiz Bowl team. He was the quiet and intimidating 6th grader, while I was the shy and geeky 5th grader. Believe it or not, he HATED me the first two years he knew me… I’d follow him around like a lost puppy dog and ask him to be my boyfriend at least once a week. Finally one day in my 8th grade year (April 29th, 2005, to be exact), he said yes <3 After almost 4 years of yearning and wanting to be the girl on his arm, I finally got my wish. Our first “date” was the next day at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Detroit, Michigan… at a Velvet Revolver concert. Our first kiss? To the song “Loving the Alien” <3
[April 29th, 2007]
Things were rocky. Very rocky. After a good 6 month time span of arguing over my clingyness and his video-game addiction, we agreed to disagree. We split up on our 2 year anniversary, with the half-hearted promise “one day, we’ll be back together…” I was beyond devastated. I lost my best friend and the boy that I lost my virginity to…
Then the fights began. I’m talking fights that make street-brawls in the ghetto look like a “My Little Pony” cartoon. It was never physical- just verbal. Our exchanges were beyond hurtful… “cruel” is even an understatement. We stopped talking for what seemed like “for good”. We thought we could never forgive each other.
[Summer 2008]
After a full year of not even speaking to each other, something unexpected happened. He was visiting his mom’s house on his weekend off of college (his mom’s was 10 minutes away, and his college was 20), and was sicker than hell. He couldn’t even make it to the gas station a block away from my house, so he desperately ran up to my door and asked to use the bathroom. (Imagine my thoughts here: This boy who I was STILL in love with after all of this drama literally just showed up at my house on a whim… What!?!) On his way out of the bathroom, he gave me a hug and said thanks… Then we started talking again…
Throughout this summer/fall everyone knew we would get back together. Everyone except US. We were best friends again- almost literally attached at the hip. The weekends he spent in his dorm room, I spent alongside him, playing Fallout 3. Things quickly escalated to the best-friends-forever-with-benefits status, but not to the boyfriend-girlfriend status that we were once at. But it was okay, we were CLOSER than ever before… I wound up going to college with him the next year.
[November 16th, 2009]
I couldn’t take it anymore. I couldn’t just be the bestie-with-benefits anymore. Every night that I said goodbye to him, my heart shattered, knowing that we wouldn’t be anything more than what we were then. On my walk back to the car, I cried harder than ever before. I was going to break off everything that night. I just couldn’t stand it… A few hours later, my mother got a phone call from him: “Hey Jess… I tried calling you! I was going to tell you I fell down the stairs and was in the hospital, but you didn’t answer… So I guess I’ll just ask you if you want to be my girlfriend again?”
[November 16th, 2011]
We were in our apartment together, holding each other’s hands, and saying our vows.
[Today]
We’ve been happily married for the past almost-5-months now, and I can honestly say, that I’ve never been happier. <3
Imagine where we’d be if he wasn’t sick that one day…?