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| Photograph by Hannah Schultz |
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| 8th grade Hannah |
Alex was a senior in college by the time I was a freshman. The summer before I went to Western Washington University, we started casually chatting on Facebook. I'd followed his life throughout the years, see him have girlfriends and see it not work out. This is somewhat embarrassing to admit, but I knew we had a lot in common based on what I noticed on his profile. The summer before I started college, our communication started to rapidly develop. Messages became the length of novels, and then we switched over completely to phone conversations. We would talk all throughout the day about every aspect of our lives, our beliefs, our goals, past present and future. Everything.
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| October 11th, 2008 |
I guess I want to relate this experience to the whole idea of dating in college. I've had a few people express the opinion that it's bad to become tied down too young. But in my life, I don't find these arguments applicable. I am dating my best friend. Is that not something to hold on to? Even more, when I look at the drama and uncertainty my single friends face, the hooking up, the awkward dates, I'm even happier that I'm in a stable and healthy relationship.
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| Photograph by Hannah Schultz (clearly) |
I hope this post hasn't been too unbearably mushy-gushy. But I really want to know something, since everyone's lives and experiences are different. Have you ever loved anyone? And what has your college dating OR single experience been like?
Nice job straying outside the format and the potential use of a made up word or at least hyperbolicly modified word!
ReplyDeleteI would only consider a few places rather "mushy-gushy" like the last graph and maybe "giving hope to all young girls in the world crushing on their sibling's friends." The rest was great storytelling.
Love, of course, is a subjective thing. but is best when both sides agree it is love. I have had some not so great experiences in which I and the other person have not reciprocated the feeling.
Since that has happened in the relatively recent past and filling my time by running all over campus, I have been reluctant to pursue any romantic pairings.
Perhaps when I am able to be more invested in activities that lend themselves more free time that could overlap with someone else's free time.
All the best with this relationship, though you did not talk as much about him like his interests outside of tennis and whoever was playing at the concert at which he invited you, which is fine for personal reasons.
Does he also like photography and quirkiness? Might he be a closet anime artist?
Revealing some of his interests could also bring light to how the relationship started/is maintained.
Regardless, great work and hope to read more from this personal perspective, when it feels comfortable for you.
Thank you for your feedback Steven. I really appreciate all the thought you put into your response. I also believe that love possibly happens when you least expect it or aren't looking for it. I'm sorry it hasn't worked out for you in the past. I hope that when the right person comes along, it will just click.
ReplyDeleteNow to answer some of your questions. When I said, "Giving hope to all young girls crushing on their siblings friends", I definitely meant it in a sarcastic/humor-ish way...I'm not quite sure if it translated over to text. Oh well!
I also didn't go into too much detail about Alex because I felt it was better to focus on the concept of relationships, rather than make this post ALL about me, him, and me and him. But I understand your suggestion. I just didn't want to cross the line into diary-ville. But since you asked, here is a better description of him:
A graduate from PSU with an economics degree. He played college tennis all four years, even though his favorite sport is golf. His dream career would be to search for Sasquatch in the wilderness or investigate UFO's and the existence of aliens. Actually, I think he wants to work in college athletics. He's still in the process of researching and figuring out the whole "future" thing. He spends most of his free time playing board games, like Backgammon and Scrabble, or frisbee-golfing, or playing basketball at the gym.
He is a dork, like me. I think that's why our relationship works so well. Most of our time is spent laughing.
I hope that is an adequate enough description! I appreciate your well wishes for our relationship, and I send all my well wishes back to you.
Sorry for not seeing this until now. The "young girls crushing part" definitely would have come off as more sarcastic through the spoken word.
ReplyDeleteI was not looking for too much detail, just a little more detail. The description was just right. I still enjoyed you making it more universal.
I hope I can see you guys interact at some point because it reads like you have a great relationship and he sounds like an awesome person that works well with you, even though I have not been able to see your dorkish side as often.
Thanks again for the encouraging words for the future. I know something will happen eventually, just not in the near future.
Keep up the good work, you two!