My Manniversary

Las Vegas, 2005

December 1, 2014
Day 215

On June 7, 2001, I got a message from a really cute guy online, someone who strangely thought I was really cute too.  I responded right away, and we chatted back and forth for a while--for about six months, actually, and then on December 1st, we finally met in person.

True love is indescribable really, except many will tell you that when you meet the love of your life, you just know it.  And I can honestly say this happened for me.  When this cute guy arrived to my parents' house with a bouquet of flowers and a warm, loving smile, he just wowed me with his sweetness and personality, and I was smitten.

I remember a lot of things from that night.  I remember how Andy got lost on the way to my house, and had to call me from a payphone a mile or so away, a place just walking distance from the home we'd end up buying together.  I remember he drove down Milford Place the wrong way when he first arrived.  I remember the flowers he handed me, and I remember the heart-shaped box of chocolates he gave me that night too.

Paris, 2007

I also remember going out for a drink at a new place in town, Churchill's, which had just opened the year before.  After that, I remember we drove around for an hour or more, just driving and talking, and realizing how quickly we were both falling in love.  We kissed for the first time that night, and I think we both knew we were on the precipice of something amazing.

Today is our 13th anniversary together, our manniversary as my friends Mac and Bob have always called it, but there's nothing unlucky about this year.  If anything, Andy and I are now closer than ever before.  We fully accept one another in every way, we completely understand how the other ticks, and most importantly, we love the differences we see in the other.  We live our own lives each in our own way, but we are intertwined in every way that matters most, and whenever we're away from each other, we both know something's missing, something's just not right with the world.

I cannot tell you what true love is.  I'm a writer, but I still haven't been able to nail down a proper definition or catchphrase.  What I do know is how true love makes you feel, and that is 100% safe and secure, loved and worth loving.  Andy and I have been through a lot together, and despite all the silly disagreements and stressful times we've had, we are stronger now than we've ever been before.  When we hug or kiss, it's like we're touching Love itself, and honestly, that's the only definition I'll ever need.