Wednesday, February 14, 2001
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Wednesday, February 14, 2001 |
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Happy Valentine's day, Fayette County By MICHAEL BOYLAN I met Sabine in middle school. When we were in the seventh grade we attempted to establish a school newspaper. It never came to pass but we started dating, what passed for dating in seventh grade anyway. We talked on the phone once or twice and met each other at a school dance. We didn't dance that night, as she spent the evening in the girl's restroom (through no fault of my own, I assure you) and our relationship ended. We stayed friends and soon we were in high school. We had several classes together and saw each other quite often because of our extracurricular activities. She was a member of the drama club, as was I, and eventually we both joined the school newspaper, though she was far more dedicated than I was. We didn't hang out together outside of school but we were amicable. I joked around with her more than anybody else did, respecting and enjoying her dark sense of humor. Toward the end of my sophomore year I was invited to prom by a senior. The post-prom party was at Sabine's house because my date was friends with Sabine's older sister. I ditched my date by the end of the night and ended up kissing Sabine. Despite our romantic tryst, we didn't begin dating again. Our friendship remained the same. I moved in November of my senior year and didn't see her again until I went back for graduation and prom. After that trip back to my hometown, I didn't see her again for close to eight years. A few years ago, I found a Web site for my old high school. The site had a database where graduates could post their current information and so I posted my info and e-mailed Sabine. We corresponded very infrequently for over a year, but when I made a trip to New York City last March, I wrote to her and told her to come to New York so that we could visit with another friend of ours from high school who was living nearby. She did and our lives changed forever. She and our friend, Bill, came into the city on Saturday night. The plan was to get dinner, see a performance by the Upright Citizens Brigade and then go to a few parties thrown by a few of Bill's friends. She said that I hadn't changed a bit and looked the same, except that I was a little taller now. I agreed and said the same thing about her. It was a fun night for all of us to catch up, but I could feel a connection, a warm tingling sensation, though it could have been the mass quantities of Thai food we consumed. Much like the night after the prom, Sabine and I ended up locking lips again. This time it was in the stairwell of an apartment building near NYU around two in the morning. I was hooked from that moment on and ended up sitting on the balcony of a friend's apartment, staring at the endless parade of red tailights, wondering how my life would be now. Once I returned home, we began talking on the phone daily and I was up in Massachusetts visiting within a few weeks. She visited Georgia a few weeks later and soon decided to move down here. By September we were living in a townhouse in Fayetteville and by December we were engaged to be married. Now, we are planning our wedding, which will be in our old hometown in a rose garden at a city park. After the wedding, we are planning on honeymooning in Europe and then returning to the sweltering Georgia summer. And since my fiance is an avid reader of this column, I will extend these Valentine's greetings. "I feel truly blessed to have reconnected with you after all of these years and look forward to building a wildly happy and successful life with you. We complement each other so well that our differences seem to fit together like puzzle pieces. I only hope that I have given you as much love and happiness as I receive everyday." Next week, dear readers, I promise that I'll be my typically unsappy and bizarre self. |
