Friday, November 26, 2010

An old friend returns (in a big, big way)

So....through the magic of FB, I have reconnected with an old friend, an old "boyfriend" if you will. We were like 11, and I would see him during the summer when I went up north with Renee to her family's cabin. We would write back and forth during the school year--until one day, I stopped hearing from him. I checked the mail religiously every day (while pining away for him every night) for like 2 weeks. Finally, I gave up...and never saw or heard from him again (I heard OF him, of course, through Renee's mom and stuff--I remember once seeing an oh-so-handsome pic of him in his baseball uniform or something like that at their house, but we never saw each other again). I went to the cabin with Renee a couple of times after that, but his family was never up at the same time we were....so alas, it just wasn't meant to be.

...Or was it? Although we became friends on FB like 2 years ago and exchanged a couple of messages (you know, the "hi, don't know if you remember me, how you been?" kind), we started to REALLY talk again a few weeks ago. He, I realized after reading some of his posts, was going through a rough patch in his marriage (which later became a separation and soon a divorce). I posted a few encouraging msgs to him and one day, he sent me a FB chat message. And we haven't stopped talking since then. No, literally. We stop to sleep and work, obviously, but that's about it. We've gone through (at last count) roughly 1300 text messages in the last 17 days, and the hours we've racked up on the phone? Fuhgeddaboutit. Our longest conversation was just on Thanksgiving Eve, which rang in at a whopping 5 hours, but I don't think we've ever had a conversation that lasted less than an hour, with an average phone call of 2 hours. (And we've talked every single night since about 3 days after we started texting.)

So what does all of this MEAN, you may be asking? Hell if I know. =-) I will say that we're definitely into each other. We'll be seeing each other when I go home next month, so we can MAKE SURE that this thing we think we may be rekindling is actually really there (although by now, we're both pretty sure). His divorce has to be finalized (although trust me when I say there is NO chance of a reconciliation). And, of course, there's the little matter of him living in Michigan (Beaverton, which is in the Midland-ish area) and me living in Paradise--I mean, Florida. As I told Kish yesterday, "I may have found the one thing that could drag my ass back to Michigan." (He couldn't move to FL, because of his 2 kids--who, btw, are both just beautiful.) Although quite honestly, I would be really, really bummed, as you all know how much I love it here. And I wouldn't do that unless I had a job lined up already and we were, like, engaged or something. I sure ain't givin' up Florida for just another boyfriend.

Sooooooo......who knows. I will also say that he's just as into me as I am into him, which is nice. We're actually quite stupid for each other right now. And sure, there may be nothing there romantically when we hang out in a few weeks, although that's becoming increasingly less likely. And there is, of course, a great deal of irony to the possibility of me ending back up with the very first guy I really really liked, after 23+ years of dating assholes, losers, cheaters and even an ex-con or two. (Although, as I told him, that just makes me appreciate him even more now.)

Oh, and by the way? He told me recently that he was crushed when he stopped hearing from me. I, of course, was stunned, and reminded him that no, it was HIM who stopped writing to ME. No, he said, one day my letters stopped coming, and he never heard back from me again, even after writing to me a couple more times. In fact, he told me that he kept my letters all the way through middle school, and high school--and that, in fact, they may still be at his dad's house somewhere. So we aren't sure what happened...but we're back in touch now, and maybe that's all that really matters.

16 comments:

Kishelle said...

This is sooo cool! So funny how life comes full circle :). If you have 5 hours worth of talking to do in one ohone call, safe to say there is a connection. So what's he look like? Do for a living? How old are his kids? Really cool Jen. Keep us posted !

Renee said...

:-)))))))

I love this. I've been telling my mom about it and she gets chills every time I tell her something new :-) It's so cool! I can't wait for you guys to meet up next month :-)

Jen said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jen said...

During one of our convos, I asked how he liked his pizza.

PEPPERONI AND FREAKIN PINEAPPLE.

I've never met ANYONE who liked that particular combination. Pineapple and ham or something, maybe. But THAT? Hell, *I* got chills. I need no further convincing that we're meant to be together. ;)

Anyway, we've already decided that we're going to couple up. We have to--the story is just too good. So we're treating it like an arranged marriage. Whether we like each other next month or not is basically irrelevant at this point. If we don't like each other right off the bat--well, we'd better GROW to like each other. ;)We're stuck with each other no matter what.

Anna said...

Oh fun! That's so cool!

Anna said...

p.s. I like the new sunset colors on the blog matching your gorgeous picture!

Anonymous said...

Sorry I didn't know you were so sad. :-(

Jen said...

I was 11, Mother. I survived.

Anna said...

And they all lived Happily Ever After :)

Anonymous said...

dear lady, i say this respectfully, kindly. as a total stranger who is totally objective, you are slightly off-kilter on this one. you are romanticizing the situation and you are probably a bit of a rebound. a significant, meaningful one, but a rebound nonetheless. i'm sorry, i just think you've invested too much time already with someone so far away, while having no guarantee that it will work or that he has something to promise you. it sounds like he is depending on you to get him through this difficult time, and you think things will magically be great. he is likely lugging around a lot of baggage from a painful marriage and divorce with two kids in tow. and the "lost letters" he says he wrote to you, and the ones he never received from you? one or two lost ones, okay, but it doesn't make sense. doesn't seem right. you need to proceed gently, slowly, wisely. because from what it seems here, you are as blind as you were as an 11 year old, and i believe he's in the driver's seat. be careful and good luck.

superman said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

I just wanna say good luck! just be careful because people do change over the years. But Im happy to know, that even after the tsunami in japan, that there is some happiness out there and those typical fairytale love stories do come true for some people :)

Anonymous said...

Sound like great fun!

jia said...

hi, just stumbled on to your blog, read this post and HAD to comment. my man and i were childhood sweethearts too. together "together" for five years before we kinds drifted apart. rest of the story was similar...losing touch, etc .... 8 yrs down the line we met again.... 6 months later we were married. today, 10 yrs down the line, and with a beautiful 5 yr old daughter, i truly am living my happy beginning..... wish the same for u. here is a slice of my story...

http://jiamata.blogspot.com/2010/01/epistolary-adventures.html

just in case u wanna read :D

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I appreciate the concern which is been rose. The things need to be sorted out because it is about the individual but it can be with everyone.

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