The joy of seeing a good old friend
So...about 2 weeks ago, Craig and me went on a crusade through the Midwest responding to an invitation my good ol friend Jessie had sent to me regarding her wedding ceremony. She was marrying a mexican duder named Tomas who's apparently very nice and kind to her, also a little shorter than her and has a goatee...but that's besides the point (ewww). It all took place over the labor day weekend. My cutie and me left by car around noon on a Friday and got to our destination: Kearney, Nebraska at about 2ish am. It was such a long drive but somehow worthwhile thanks to my Craig and some of the excitement I felt about going back to Nebraska.
I was happy to see the state that welcomed me in this adventure in the USA that has now entered its 5th year. Sometimes it is hard to believe it has been that long. We took the opportunity also to do some sightseeing since Craig hadn't been there before. We stopped at Des Moines and looked around downtown and its capitol (pretty well kept and nice) and I must say all Iowans seem to lead a very leisured and comfortable life. Iowa is not your typical Midwest flat state, it has some hills to it and nice views, definitely worth driving by. After that we stopped at Omaha where we looked around the downtown area as I was acting as the tour guide for Craig, the only difference being he didn't pay me the 10$ per hour I get paid in Chicago...he did pay me though, just in a different way. It got very late after we ate in Omaha (also worth mentioning I spent my first semester in college there) so we had to drive by Lincoln hoping we would get to do some touring around my favorite little town on Sunday. In any case, we arrived at our cheap hotel pretty late and knowing we had to wake up early for the wedding.
It was a definite joy to get to see Jessie once again in Nebraska. Since it was her wedding, it was kind of hard to get to spend as much time with her, getting a feel for what it used to be and had not been for 2 years. I must confess I got a little emotional, not in the sense that I came close to crying, but in a way in which I just felt happy to get to see her and how excited, nervous and how much in love she looked. There was nothing, absolutely nothing pretentious about the wedding as I had expected and it was the natural Jessie....silly, goofy, funny, and always nice, extremely nice. I was reminded at many different points during the course of the day at how lucky I was at a very crucial moment in my life to have her, out of all women, by my side...even after I had ended our relationship and the mere possibility of ever taking place by finally coming out...to her, out of all people.
We did get to talk a few times, not as much as I would have liked, but at least we exchanged some memories and I managed to introduce her to my Craig. It was all so cute when she confessed to him how much joy she felt to see him, since he had been able to make me happy....which is all very true. I know some people would say happiness shouldn't depend on other people, but in the most basic of levels, we depend on others to exist, to be humans and demonstrate our humanity. And...it is this...the extreme of humanity that people like Jessie showcase naturally, without even trying to do so.
My trip ended all too soon and the gay couple had to head back to Chicago the very next day, on a Sunday, right before Labor Day. We got to roam around the University of Nebraska Campus, in which I lived for one and a half years and hadn't been in for 2 yrs, and then we ate some food at Old Chicago restaurant (one of my faves in the town) and left...10 more hours in the road awaited us.
Now...I'm a student, and do what a student is supposed to do...study, work, go to class, the library even when you don't want to, read, draw, talk to professors, sleep in even when you're not supposed to...etc....etc
It's good to be back.
Niels "I wish Jessie all the happiness in the world"
I was happy to see the state that welcomed me in this adventure in the USA that has now entered its 5th year. Sometimes it is hard to believe it has been that long. We took the opportunity also to do some sightseeing since Craig hadn't been there before. We stopped at Des Moines and looked around downtown and its capitol (pretty well kept and nice) and I must say all Iowans seem to lead a very leisured and comfortable life. Iowa is not your typical Midwest flat state, it has some hills to it and nice views, definitely worth driving by. After that we stopped at Omaha where we looked around the downtown area as I was acting as the tour guide for Craig, the only difference being he didn't pay me the 10$ per hour I get paid in Chicago...he did pay me though, just in a different way. It got very late after we ate in Omaha (also worth mentioning I spent my first semester in college there) so we had to drive by Lincoln hoping we would get to do some touring around my favorite little town on Sunday. In any case, we arrived at our cheap hotel pretty late and knowing we had to wake up early for the wedding.
It was a definite joy to get to see Jessie once again in Nebraska. Since it was her wedding, it was kind of hard to get to spend as much time with her, getting a feel for what it used to be and had not been for 2 years. I must confess I got a little emotional, not in the sense that I came close to crying, but in a way in which I just felt happy to get to see her and how excited, nervous and how much in love she looked. There was nothing, absolutely nothing pretentious about the wedding as I had expected and it was the natural Jessie....silly, goofy, funny, and always nice, extremely nice. I was reminded at many different points during the course of the day at how lucky I was at a very crucial moment in my life to have her, out of all women, by my side...even after I had ended our relationship and the mere possibility of ever taking place by finally coming out...to her, out of all people.
We did get to talk a few times, not as much as I would have liked, but at least we exchanged some memories and I managed to introduce her to my Craig. It was all so cute when she confessed to him how much joy she felt to see him, since he had been able to make me happy....which is all very true. I know some people would say happiness shouldn't depend on other people, but in the most basic of levels, we depend on others to exist, to be humans and demonstrate our humanity. And...it is this...the extreme of humanity that people like Jessie showcase naturally, without even trying to do so.
My trip ended all too soon and the gay couple had to head back to Chicago the very next day, on a Sunday, right before Labor Day. We got to roam around the University of Nebraska Campus, in which I lived for one and a half years and hadn't been in for 2 yrs, and then we ate some food at Old Chicago restaurant (one of my faves in the town) and left...10 more hours in the road awaited us.
Now...I'm a student, and do what a student is supposed to do...study, work, go to class, the library even when you don't want to, read, draw, talk to professors, sleep in even when you're not supposed to...etc....etc
It's good to be back.
Niels "I wish Jessie all the happiness in the world"