Yesterday my first serious girlfriend showed up in my “People You May Know” section on Facebook. She and I had all of the firsts that come along with being young and in love, including first bitter breakup which happened six years ago.
We swore we’d still remain friends, and we did…at least in the sense that we’d periodically get back together if we suspected the other was interested in someone else. That’s what friends do, right?
After months of preventative dating we decided to act like the grown-ups we were trying to become and agreed that enough was enough. She had decided to join the Navy, and we agreed that we would not see or speak to one another until her contract was up, at which point we would meet beneath the marquee of the Fox Theatre in downtown Detroit to reassess things and hopefully get back together.*
*Seriously, this was our life plan.
As it turned I contacted her less than three months later and told her I was seeing someone but that the Fox Theatre thing was still on. She told me I could go to hell and take my new girlfriend with me.
By the time the agreed upon five year mark arrived I was already living in New York and about to get married to Ella. I remembered the plan but never actually thought about going. It was a stupid idea, the kind you have when you feel your life changing in ways you never imagined. I’m sure that if she remembered the plan she did not show up either.
[Shakes head]
I would have gone with you.
With an ex, we sent each other future mails (you know, that services that you can use to send emails in a future time, like futureme) saying: “find me” (we were breaking up – actually, he was leaving me for another girl, but that is another story) and our emails at that moment. They are supposed to arrive in about 30 years or so. We like to keep our options open (?)