The beginning.....

Ben and I met in Yuma, AZ.  I had moved there to begin my teaching career.  He was stationed at MCAS Yuma.  One Friday night, my roommate and I started talking about our college days and specifically what we would drink in college.  Needless to say, we eventually went to the store and purchased everything we had just discussed.  Somehow we ended up sitting and drinking out on our steps at our apartment complex.  We were just talking with neighbors and friends.  We were just enjoying ourselves on such a beautiful evening.  One of the friends spied Ben walking across the complex.  He was there to meet a friend as they were heading down to Mexico.  Both of them joined us on the stairs.  Ben sat down next to me.  We talked and laughed.  I did reach out to touch his leg a few times. I remember telling bad jokes and giving him such a hard time about going to Mexico.  At some point during that evening, I actually pulled my hoodie down over my head and pulled the strings so hard that only a small portion of my face was showing but we still continued to talk and laugh.  Eventually he left with his friend and that was it.  A few nights later, however, his friend was having a party and invited Ben.  Ben proceeded to ask if that “Leafa chick” was going to be there.  What in the world transpired between us on those steps that made him interested in seeing me again?  Was it the bad jokes, the leg touching or the unexpected “hoodie incident”?   Anyway, for whatever reason, we both attended the party and that was truly our beginning.  He drove me home after a relentless string of hints that I needed a ride.   We sat in his car and talked for hours.  We felt no urgency to leave or to say goodnight.  It wasn’t a comfortable or relaxed experience though.   I was on edge.  Just sitting there and talking with him was so exhilarating and at the same time frightening. I had never felt such a strong connection with anyone before in my life. The air that surrounded us was so dynamic. You could almost see sparks.  It felt like there was a magnetic current running through the air charging  us as we breathed.  One would think that we would have jumped right into a romantic relationship soon after that night but that was not how our journey began.  Instead, we became friends.   Each of us had unfinished personal stories that needed  closure before beginning our own.  So we took our time as friends, talking, laughing and waiting for the next  step to begin.