Ask me a few years ago and I probably would be tell you the minute details of how my husband I met. It’s been over 15 years since then and my memory is already growing fuzzy. As a kid one of the things I was scared of losing were the memories I have of my loved ones. Then I realized I never wrote down how our first meeting went, at least to my recollection.

*~*~*

It’s August and we met on
Gaiaonline, a roleplaying
Website whose roots
Came from my hometown.

I’m sixteen? Maybe seventeen?
And you recently graduated
High School. Also —
Recently broken up
With your girlfriend of
Three years.

I lived under
A metaphorical rock
Where my life revolved around
Studying, school, grades,
Band, family, and home.
BUT!
I had an online boyfriend.

Scandalous, right?
My family would think so.
But when I wasn’t allowed to socialize
Or have friends over
Or date —
I got rebellious
And creative.

Things weren’t going
Well with my online boyfriend though.
And then I met you.

My teenaged self
Who never stayed up
Later than 11 PM
And voluntarily woke up
At 6 in the morning
On the weekends

You kept me up
Until 2 in the morning.
So I slept in
To the chagrin of my folks.
At a family dinner
I kept nodding off.

But on the
Third night
I dragged my mattress
To the floor.

So we could keep talking:
About our favorite color (blue)
About abortion (pro-choice),
About sandwiches (ew, dry sandwiches)
About what we wanted in life.

For once —
I was comfortable enough
To drop my
Guard.

That morning
I sat up straight on the mattress.
“James?”
I still had my headset on.
I heard your sleepy reply, “Yeah?”
“Did I fall asleep?”

So, I broke up with him
Because I fell in love
With you
In Three Days.