The Love Thing
Everyday you hear about love. In songs, on TV, in the movies. You read articles in Cosmo about how to get your man to love you (as if). And girlfriends call you up to complain and whine about the man they love. But, really, how many times can a woman over 40 say she’s been in love? Me? Well, let me count.
I can’t really include P______, my heartthrob from the 3rd grade on. My first real boyfriend was D_____ – the guy who eventually married my sister, Camille. But it certainly wasn’t love. Heck, I was 12. Even back then I knew that making out after spin-the-bottle doesn’t count. Jump ahead to freshman year. L______. Slicked back hair. Leather jacket. Sigh. Infatuation, yes, but love? No (Sorry to break it to you this way, L_____, if you’re reading this).
I guess the first guy I can really say I fell in love with was S______. And he broke my heart. After he deflowered me. But we were 18 – and I am soooo glad we didn’t end up together. Because he was actually a real a**hole (as I discovered not too long ago. . . ).
I fell in love the following year – my first year at college – with D____ , which was a big mistake. We lived together in his dorm room. He “convinced” me to quit college (P.S. I didn’t; he just thought I did). A control freak if I ever knew one. And absolutely a potential abuser. All my friends tried to warn me (yeah, you were right, David). I escaped marrying him by the skin of my teeth. (thank you, Andrea!)
Okay. By this time I was truly an adult. And maybe this is where I should have started my count (but it’s my blog, so deal with it). Senior year in college and I am absolutely, head over heels in love with D____. Ah, D_____. I knew you had a girlfriend when we started dating, but I pretended you didn’t. And so did you, for that matter. A very warm, fun relationship with very little drama. Until the college relationship and the off-campus one started colliding. (I wince when I think about his excuses for not making it to the surprise birthday party I gave for him. Ouch.) One had to win; one had to lose. Guess who lost? (That bastard)
Now, I’m going through relationships in my head – some good, some bad – and there is only one more that I count as love. We fight, we laugh, we’re both really, really jerky (as Camille would say). And I love him still, after 27 years together. Guess who. . .
So, four cases of true love. One case of totally requited love. Not bad, huh?
Tags: being in love, falling in love, high school relationships, how many times can you fall in love, men over 40, requited love, the other woman, unrequited love, women over 40