30 Days: Day 02 Your first love

…See the whole list here…

This one is a little bit touchy as he and I are still friends… or at least Facebook acquaintances. To protect the innocence of my past, let’s just call him Mufasa.

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Mufasa. Oooooooh say it again! Sorry, inside joke.

OK, well, Mufasa and I met during my first year at college. It was a religious experience… and by that, I mean I met him during Passover when I was staying at a friend’s parent’s houses in Orlando. His family and several others were there and, I dunno, it was weird. I was smitten to say the least. Sure, he was a couple years younger, but who cares, he was funny and smart and we stayed up all night watching The Lion King over and over again. And by “watching” I mean sitting on the couch laughing, talking and tickling. Totally G rated.

Forward to the introduction of IRC to my life and we would spend hours talking online (back when it was completely safe!), on the phone and swapping emails. For the longest time, I had all those emails printed out along with a journal I was keeping. A journal that I made the mistake of letting him read a year or so into our friendship.

That’s right folks, friendship. I may have been head over heels crazy in love with him, but we were never more than platonic friends. No kissing or anything. Being in close proximity with Mufasa was painful and I was several times. He came to Gainesville for my birthday and I would go to Orlando all the time with either my friend or his sister. Every time I drove to Miami to visit my family, I would stop by Orlando for an hour or so. Yeah, it was pretty bad.

During the time Mufasa and I were super close, he was dating a few different women and I was dating BD and JF, and later got engaged to JF. I was crazy about BD, but he did a real number on me during the few months we dated. Like sitting in the back of my closet crying hysterically. He gets initials cuz he is also still a friend. JF, on the other hand, the person that should have been at least one of my first loves… not so much. Sure, while we were together maybe, but afterwards I realized I wasn’t in love with him so much as the idea of him.

Tangent, party of 1.

Anyhow, the last time I saw him was maybe 2004 or so when I was visiting another friend and we drove into Gainesville for the day. It was amazing just hanging out with him. Now, we’re both grown up and engaged to other people. I haven’t done more than keep in touch over Facebook for years. I haven’t even really talked to him other than to offer up my congrats on his engagement and to wish him a happy birthday. You know, the cordiality of being an adult with an old friend.

So… are you still in touch with your first love? Did you actually have a relationship with him/her? Even though our relationship was a non-relationship, I wouldn’t trade it for anything and I wish him nothing but the best in everything he does in his life.

There’s still very much a soft spot in my heart for you, Mufasa.

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3 comments on “30 Days: Day 02 Your first love

  1. Chanele

    I wrote a really long post about mine on my blog, but I am still in touch, although we don’t talk all that much anymore. It’s strange to see how life changes and we move on. Am I right to think that Mufasa is someone we once saw with his family at a restaurant in Orlando? Or am I think of someone else?

    1. msrib

      yep.. that was him, several years later. and then you dropped me off at his apartment in Gainesville and went back to party with the blue haired chick 🙂

  2. Pingback: Playing the 30 Days Meme Game | Benaim-Fletcher

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