Fondness
We haven’t met for more than a decade, though we’ve kept in touch initially on email and more recently on FB. Yet, when we finally met this past weekend at a wedding, after so many years, we hardly had a conversation.
It felt strange. He was someone so close to me, yet so foreign now.
That night, when I went home and finally took my mind off the wedding itself and reflected on the events of the day, I found myself shedding tears. Not out of sadness, but fondness. For he was still the same. The sweet sweet man that I remember him to be.
There was a moment that evening, when I might have been visibly stressed/harassed, so he offered his help. But I declined, perhaps intuitively sensing that he should spend more time catching up with his friends at the wedding. So he went and got me a drink instead, wordlessly putting it by my hand on the table, and then left me alone.
It was a passing moment, but a small gesture. It was also the natural way that he looked out for me (as he would have any other girl, I’m sure, because he’s considerate that way). And I was touched to tears.
Because he was my first boyfriend, my first love, and will always be special that way.