I thought it was just puppy love. I was sixteen and she had just turned fifteen. We met at a basketball game and decided after a few phone conversations and visits to start a relationship. We made a mistake and were intimate a few months into it and she got pregnant. We both knew it was too soon for us to have kids, so she aborted the pregnancy. We didn’t stop seeing each other; as a matter of fact, we got even closer and also became more careful not to make the same mistake again.
One day we had a major misunderstanding and I thought it was best if we parted ways. She didn’t take it too well and was very persistent in trying to convince me to change my mind. She was no match for my stubbornness, so it was over. A few years go by with being in and out of each other’s lives, but nothing as concrete as that “puppy love” we once had. I went to college and then had son, and she eventually graduated high school and basically did the same, she just had a girl. We had a couple of close calls with getting back together, but either she was with someone or the other way around.
I gave up and moved on, got married, and started a family, I almost forgot about her altogether. Then one day I open up my message box on the networking site called Myspace and the subject line to this first message was just a date. 3/15/91? Nothing came to mind, but as I started to read the email, it was coming back to me!
Sixers vs. Heat—a basketball game that changed my life. From that point, I knew I had met the person I should be with and stay with for the rest of my life.
We’re still not together, though, but I know in my heart one day we will be.
