first date.

Originally written 2.14.03

I had my very first date five years ago today. I was fifteen, and he had just turned seventeen. We'd been to football games and such together, but this was our first "real" date, you know with dinner and stuff. It was Valentine's Day, so he brought me roses and a teddy bear.

We went by all the sit-down restaurants in Hickory, and couldn't find a place with less than a two-hour wait. We were hungry then, and did not want to wait. One of us, I'm not sure who, made a joke at some point about going to eat at Food Lion. By the time we had hit all the restaurants with no luck, it wasn't really a joke anymore. So we went to Food Lion, and found to our delight that there was no wait.

We went up and down the aisles, picking stuff out. I picked out the stuff that I'd always wanted as a kid, but never had because Mama didn't think it was cost efficient. I got Lunchables.

We spent about $20 on food that night, and then took our loot back to his car. We sat in the Food Lion parking lot on our first date and ate Lunchables inside his Camaro.

It's been a long time since I was that girl and he was that boy. Our Valentine's Day today consisted of him coming over for a while when he was feeling sick during a break between classes. Tonight I served Valentine's Day cheer to 8 tables and he went off to Raleigh with friends. It wasn't one of our better February 14's. I'm lonely, and I miss him.

I wish I had a clever, happy ending to this rambling. Something to tie it all up in a nice pretty package. There would be a theme of enduring love, I think; that is one of my favorites. It would make you all sigh and envy that I am in such a wonderful relationship. That stuff is all true, I am in a wonderful relationship. But right now, that's not what I'm feeling.

I'm lonely and I miss him.