People aren’t kidding when they say that things can change dramatically within a single day sometimes.
The night after I wrote my last post, I received a text from one of my guy friends: “Hey, what’s up? Would you wanna do something tonight? Wanna come over and chill? We can watch a movie if you want?”. This particular guy friend of mine had been someone I’d met by waiting on him at IHOP about a few weeks prior to this text being written, and who I’d had a partial crush on. I’d thought that he was really cute and super friendly from the beginning, but I’d been given the impression that he had no mutual interest in me whatsoever. I wasn’t bummed over the idea of him not being interested since I knew in the back of my mind that I’d be leaving in the fall to go abroad for a semester. And, generally, I’d thought that having any sort of relationship with anyone may not be a wise move with the fact that I’ll be away for a while. From prior experience, I didn’t think that a number of guys would have handled long distance (even temporary long distance) very well.
I replied to the text and went to my guy friend’s house that night. We ended up watching the movie ELF three times and I stayed over from midnight until 9am the next morning. We talked and laughed so much more than I’d ever have expected during those hours, and we ended up holding hands and later kissing and falling asleep together on his downstairs couch. To say the least, my initial impression had turned out to be very skewed, because I found out that particular night and other nights to follow that he WAS interested in me. He had been in a quite complicated situation with another girl when we met for the first time, and he had remained distant from me to avoid hurting anyone or himself until he handled his dilemma correctly.
Despite my intentions of not having any relationship before going abroad to Europe for my summer trip and then for the semester, I went with my gut feeling and decided to go out on some dates with this guy and hang out with him even more because I saw how awesome he really was. During the time that I spent with him, I’d gotten to meet his parents, his three younger brothers, his many interesting friends, and his co-workers at the Thai restaurant where he works at. And I adored all of them. I learned so much more about him just by spending time with him and talking for hours about so many things, and I knew that after having gone several years without having the chance to have any sort of “real” relationship, I didn’t want to let a pretty sweet opportunity slip out of my fingers.
So, fast forwarding to today, this guy is now officially my boyfriend. His name is Graham and he’s 19 (just a year and a half younger than me). He studies business management and is about to start his second year of college at Georgia Southern University, which is several hours south of Atlanta. He is a waiter at a locally owned Thai restaurant called “Charm” and has worked there for three years and counting. Originally, he is from a town called Hershey in Pennsylvania, but he has lived in Georgia for over 13 years now as a result of his dad’s occupation of being a private company pilot. He is obsessed (I mean, absolutely obsessed) with cars, eats super spicy food all the time, listens to a good bit of Nirvana and 90s style music, and always sports a gorgeously made but simplistic brown watch on his right wrist.
Graham visits me at my own work and brings me sweet little treats, and I do the same for him. He pays for every single meal that we eat and tips the waiter/waitress well because he understands the struggle of awful tippers. I feel bad when he pays so much and all the time, which is why I try to buy him little treats and write him notes/cards as a “thank you” gesture, but at the same time, I’m grateful to have someone who works hard and isn’t afraid to be a gentleman. He has impeccable manners, which is a huge bonus because I have never been with a guy (or had any guy friend really) who had such amazing, courteous manners towards others while being out in public.
I spend so much of my free time (when I have it, anyway) either at Graham’s house, at Charm, or just with him elsewhere in general. I almost spend the same number of nights at his house as I do at my own house. I get less sleep than I did before, but I’m not complaining at all because my nights have never been more adventurous, intimate, and fun. These are the nights we remember when we’re older, anyway.
At some point, I told Graham about the fact that I would be studying abroad in France for a semester. I wasn’t sure how he would react to this idea originally, but, unexpectedly, Graham told me that he could deal with a long distance type of relationship for the semester that I’m abroad and that he would wait. And somehow, I feel that I can see the both of us still together by the time that I come back for Christmas. I can only say so much right now, but I have never been able to previously say that about the other guys I have dated – either back from high school or from far away in Europe. This is also the first time in some years that I have had this sort of luck with a non-European guy, which rarely happens for me because of my clumsy luck.
Even when I’m back in Georgia for the spring semester, we will still be at universities that are hours apart from each other, but we both have cars and can manage what we can on weekends and with technology. Nonetheless, my heart is happy, my life has so much more meaning now, my time is more productively and beautifully spent, and I’m taking everything with a grain of salt and just enjoying the fun times that are currently taking place for us. After all, tomorrow could go in any sort of unprecedented direction and we don’t know what the future holds.
Things really do happen when you aren’t expecting them to happen. And sometimes, those unexpected moments are worth gold when they take the right course.
Waking up in the morning in Georgia has never felt so bittersweet in years.
The night after I wrote my last post, I received a text from one of my guy friends: “Hey, what’s up? Would you wanna do something tonight? Wanna come over and chill? We can watch a movie if you want?”. This particular guy friend of mine had been someone I’d met by waiting on him at IHOP about a few weeks prior to this text being written, and who I’d had a partial crush on. I’d thought that he was really cute and super friendly from the beginning, but I’d been given the impression that he had no mutual interest in me whatsoever. I wasn’t bummed over the idea of him not being interested since I knew in the back of my mind that I’d be leaving in the fall to go abroad for a semester. And, generally, I’d thought that having any sort of relationship with anyone may not be a wise move with the fact that I’ll be away for a while. From prior experience, I didn’t think that a number of guys would have handled long distance (even temporary long distance) very well.
I replied to the text and went to my guy friend’s house that night. We ended up watching the movie ELF three times and I stayed over from midnight until 9am the next morning. We talked and laughed so much more than I’d ever have expected during those hours, and we ended up holding hands and later kissing and falling asleep together on his downstairs couch. To say the least, my initial impression had turned out to be very skewed, because I found out that particular night and other nights to follow that he WAS interested in me. He had been in a quite complicated situation with another girl when we met for the first time, and he had remained distant from me to avoid hurting anyone or himself until he handled his dilemma correctly.
Despite my intentions of not having any relationship before going abroad to Europe for my summer trip and then for the semester, I went with my gut feeling and decided to go out on some dates with this guy and hang out with him even more because I saw how awesome he really was. During the time that I spent with him, I’d gotten to meet his parents, his three younger brothers, his many interesting friends, and his co-workers at the Thai restaurant where he works at. And I adored all of them. I learned so much more about him just by spending time with him and talking for hours about so many things, and I knew that after having gone several years without having the chance to have any sort of “real” relationship, I didn’t want to let a pretty sweet opportunity slip out of my fingers.
So, fast forwarding to today, this guy is now officially my boyfriend. His name is Graham and he’s 19 (just a year and a half younger than me). He studies business management and is about to start his second year of college at Georgia Southern University, which is several hours south of Atlanta. He is a waiter at a locally owned Thai restaurant called “Charm” and has worked there for three years and counting. Originally, he is from a town called Hershey in Pennsylvania, but he has lived in Georgia for over 13 years now as a result of his dad’s occupation of being a private company pilot. He is obsessed (I mean, absolutely obsessed) with cars, eats super spicy food all the time, listens to a good bit of Nirvana and 90s style music, and always sports a gorgeously made but simplistic brown watch on his right wrist.
Graham visits me at my own work and brings me sweet little treats, and I do the same for him. He pays for every single meal that we eat and tips the waiter/waitress well because he understands the struggle of awful tippers. I feel bad when he pays so much and all the time, which is why I try to buy him little treats and write him notes/cards as a “thank you” gesture, but at the same time, I’m grateful to have someone who works hard and isn’t afraid to be a gentleman. He has impeccable manners, which is a huge bonus because I have never been with a guy (or had any guy friend really) who had such amazing, courteous manners towards others while being out in public.
I spend so much of my free time (when I have it, anyway) either at Graham’s house, at Charm, or just with him elsewhere in general. I almost spend the same number of nights at his house as I do at my own house. I get less sleep than I did before, but I’m not complaining at all because my nights have never been more adventurous, intimate, and fun. These are the nights we remember when we’re older, anyway.
At some point, I told Graham about the fact that I would be studying abroad in France for a semester. I wasn’t sure how he would react to this idea originally, but, unexpectedly, Graham told me that he could deal with a long distance type of relationship for the semester that I’m abroad and that he would wait. And somehow, I feel that I can see the both of us still together by the time that I come back for Christmas. I can only say so much right now, but I have never been able to previously say that about the other guys I have dated – either back from high school or from far away in Europe. This is also the first time in some years that I have had this sort of luck with a non-European guy, which rarely happens for me because of my clumsy luck.
Even when I’m back in Georgia for the spring semester, we will still be at universities that are hours apart from each other, but we both have cars and can manage what we can on weekends and with technology. Nonetheless, my heart is happy, my life has so much more meaning now, my time is more productively and beautifully spent, and I’m taking everything with a grain of salt and just enjoying the fun times that are currently taking place for us. After all, tomorrow could go in any sort of unprecedented direction and we don’t know what the future holds.
Things really do happen when you aren’t expecting them to happen. And sometimes, those unexpected moments are worth gold when they take the right course.
Waking up in the morning in Georgia has never felt so bittersweet in years.