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My cousin Brad has a girlfriend. He just turned 17--he's had girlfriends before, but he's spending an awful lot of time with this one. We've played cards with them twice in the last few weeks. She seems like a very nice girl, more so than I would have expected. They have the usual gap in maturity levels, which makes it a little funny. They've been the subject of much scrutiny, which might embarrass them if they noticed, although they have little interest in such matters, I think. :)
It's so fascinating to watch the way they're suddenly a "couple". Given the maturity levels I mentioned, it's so cute to see their little signals and such. For example, the other night, she gave him a look and he nodded slightly before saying that they needed to go run an errand but would be right back. (Uninteresting errand, nothing worth writing about.) It just made me think of how he would never have been so intuitive if it had been one of his friends, and rightly so, of course. It's just somewhat surprising to watch someone develop that skill--learning what your significant other requires and then finding the best way to go about getting it for them. Some people never do.
They also reminded me of the short but sweet glory of shiny-penny romance. You know what I'm talking about. There's a deliciousness to it all--the first time he takes your hand and your fingers mesh the wrong way and you feel awkward and clumsy but happy, the first time he kisses your neck and sends shivers down the back of your arms, the first time you fall asleep in his arms and he wakes up accidentally speaking Swedish to you--okay, that's one that most couples won't know but I bet at least a couple of you have had that experience! Everything is so fresh and new and anything is possible. I wager that more people fall in love with that feeling than do fall in love with that person.
As for me, I don't have that shiny penny anymore, but I have seven well-worn pennies to take its place. Since I'm cutting way back on the melodrama, I won't give names or attributes to the seven pennies, but they do more than make up for that shiny one that we traded in for seven more comfortable ones. These pennies will not just make me shiver, they'll get up out of a cozy bed to go check that the door is locked, will tuck me into bed and sing me a little song, will spend endless amounts of time convincing me that I'm good enough and smart enough, will hug me when I'm sad and when I'm happy. They'll let me lounge around in comfortable clothes and they'll try to keep me in bed for just a little while longer in the mornings. Those seven pennies bought us the most excellent thing in either of our lives.
And yes, I really do have seven pennies in a tiny little box--but that's a story for another time.
It's so fascinating to watch the way they're suddenly a "couple". Given the maturity levels I mentioned, it's so cute to see their little signals and such. For example, the other night, she gave him a look and he nodded slightly before saying that they needed to go run an errand but would be right back. (Uninteresting errand, nothing worth writing about.) It just made me think of how he would never have been so intuitive if it had been one of his friends, and rightly so, of course. It's just somewhat surprising to watch someone develop that skill--learning what your significant other requires and then finding the best way to go about getting it for them. Some people never do.
They also reminded me of the short but sweet glory of shiny-penny romance. You know what I'm talking about. There's a deliciousness to it all--the first time he takes your hand and your fingers mesh the wrong way and you feel awkward and clumsy but happy, the first time he kisses your neck and sends shivers down the back of your arms, the first time you fall asleep in his arms and he wakes up accidentally speaking Swedish to you--okay, that's one that most couples won't know but I bet at least a couple of you have had that experience! Everything is so fresh and new and anything is possible. I wager that more people fall in love with that feeling than do fall in love with that person.
As for me, I don't have that shiny penny anymore, but I have seven well-worn pennies to take its place. Since I'm cutting way back on the melodrama, I won't give names or attributes to the seven pennies, but they do more than make up for that shiny one that we traded in for seven more comfortable ones. These pennies will not just make me shiver, they'll get up out of a cozy bed to go check that the door is locked, will tuck me into bed and sing me a little song, will spend endless amounts of time convincing me that I'm good enough and smart enough, will hug me when I'm sad and when I'm happy. They'll let me lounge around in comfortable clothes and they'll try to keep me in bed for just a little while longer in the mornings. Those seven pennies bought us the most excellent thing in either of our lives.
And yes, I really do have seven pennies in a tiny little box--but that's a story for another time.
