The Greatest Gift
I've been in a nostalgic mood lately. Little things pop up here and there that make my mind drift back to a few years ago when Angelo and I first met in person. It really blows my mind that it was 2011 that we first met. In some ways it feels like I've known him forever, yet in others I feel like I've only known him a day.
I remember the first time I saw him. I'd landed at Newark airport and we spent a few minutes trying to figure out which door we were meeting at. (Newark Airport is a slightly confusing place if you've never been there--so many doors!) While he and his friend were en route to the proper door I remember digging through my bags to find my bottle of perfume. Ang has a very strong sense of smell and after being on a plane for 2 hours, and being nervous the entire day, I was a little paranoid I didn't smell the greatest. So I dug through everything I brought until I found my spray. A few minutes after putting it on he walked through the door. We both had smiles on our faces and just immediately hugged. We were both a bit tense and felt a little awkward, but...how else do you greet someone you've been in a relationship with for 5 years and yet not met in person before?
On the way to where I was staying we stopped and got dinner at a diner. Ang and I would up doing the thing you usually see in 50's movies--a couple sharing a milkshake. I really wish I had had someone take a pic of us sharing that, but at the time I was far too nervous and shy to even think about asking someone. Back at Koshi's, while Koshi stepped into another room, Ang and I shared our first (in person) kiss. <3
That week and a half went by so fast and yet every moment was a memory made and still sparkles like the brightest star in mind. There was the time we went to Central Park and Times Sqaure. We laid in a grassy meadow and cuddled and then headed off to what could arguably be one of the busiest places on this coast. I wound up having a panic attack (oh gods so many people!), and he rushed me out of there~ Then there was the time where we went down to his old college to visit one of his friends and wound up making liquid nitrogen ice cream. "Most guys take their girlfriends to dinner and a movie. I take mine to make liquid nitrogen ice cream," Ang said at one point. I think that was one of the best dates I'd ever been on~ <3 Swimming with him in the ocean a few days later ranks up there as one of the best times from that week, too.
And now look at us. Everyday I get to wake up beside him. When I come home from work, he's here working, too. I get to game with him and cuddle him and watch things with him. I'm lucky enough to be able to grocery shop with him and cook with him and experience all kinds of things with him. Everyday I ask myself, 'how did I get this lucky?' When I met him, all I knew is that I wanted to be a writer. I was a writer in love with another writer. I didn't realize how empty I felt back in Indiana until I took a two hour plane ride out to New Jersey to meet a guy I'd only spoken to online. When my feet hit the ground here and I started going around seeing things...that's when my life started. The moment I held his hand and had that first conversation, that's when I woke up from a long, long sleep.
Occasionally he'll ask me if I still like my life here, if I ever miss Indiana. There are a few things in Indiana I miss--mostly specific places (like my dad's farm or my favorite park) and people. But would I ever want to live there again? I can say with absolute certainty that I would not. New Jersey is home to me. It's where I feel like I belong.
I remember the first time I saw him. I'd landed at Newark airport and we spent a few minutes trying to figure out which door we were meeting at. (Newark Airport is a slightly confusing place if you've never been there--so many doors!) While he and his friend were en route to the proper door I remember digging through my bags to find my bottle of perfume. Ang has a very strong sense of smell and after being on a plane for 2 hours, and being nervous the entire day, I was a little paranoid I didn't smell the greatest. So I dug through everything I brought until I found my spray. A few minutes after putting it on he walked through the door. We both had smiles on our faces and just immediately hugged. We were both a bit tense and felt a little awkward, but...how else do you greet someone you've been in a relationship with for 5 years and yet not met in person before?
On the way to where I was staying we stopped and got dinner at a diner. Ang and I would up doing the thing you usually see in 50's movies--a couple sharing a milkshake. I really wish I had had someone take a pic of us sharing that, but at the time I was far too nervous and shy to even think about asking someone. Back at Koshi's, while Koshi stepped into another room, Ang and I shared our first (in person) kiss. <3
That week and a half went by so fast and yet every moment was a memory made and still sparkles like the brightest star in mind. There was the time we went to Central Park and Times Sqaure. We laid in a grassy meadow and cuddled and then headed off to what could arguably be one of the busiest places on this coast. I wound up having a panic attack (oh gods so many people!), and he rushed me out of there~ Then there was the time where we went down to his old college to visit one of his friends and wound up making liquid nitrogen ice cream. "Most guys take their girlfriends to dinner and a movie. I take mine to make liquid nitrogen ice cream," Ang said at one point. I think that was one of the best dates I'd ever been on~ <3 Swimming with him in the ocean a few days later ranks up there as one of the best times from that week, too.
And now look at us. Everyday I get to wake up beside him. When I come home from work, he's here working, too. I get to game with him and cuddle him and watch things with him. I'm lucky enough to be able to grocery shop with him and cook with him and experience all kinds of things with him. Everyday I ask myself, 'how did I get this lucky?' When I met him, all I knew is that I wanted to be a writer. I was a writer in love with another writer. I didn't realize how empty I felt back in Indiana until I took a two hour plane ride out to New Jersey to meet a guy I'd only spoken to online. When my feet hit the ground here and I started going around seeing things...that's when my life started. The moment I held his hand and had that first conversation, that's when I woke up from a long, long sleep.
Occasionally he'll ask me if I still like my life here, if I ever miss Indiana. There are a few things in Indiana I miss--mostly specific places (like my dad's farm or my favorite park) and people. But would I ever want to live there again? I can say with absolute certainty that I would not. New Jersey is home to me. It's where I feel like I belong.