The One Who Makes Me Smile

Monday, June 1 is the eight month anniversary of Matt’s and my first date.  This weekend, he decided to do something special for me.  I didn’t really think people celebrated eight months so much, but what do I know?  Maybe it’s important to him because that’s how long he was with his previous (lying, cheating, mooching) girlfriend, and he wants to celebrate this much better relationship with me.

He surprised me with gift certificates to a very fancy French restaurant downtown.  (The radio station here gives deals on gift certificates to different places around town every week; mostly it’s a two-for-one type deal, which is especially good for the nicer restaurants in town) Unfortunately, we didn’t make a reservation and the wait was about 45 minutes, which would have been fine if Matt didn’t have to leave for work by 8:30, and we didn’t want to be rushed.  So we decided to try to make reservations next week, and go to a different restaurant instead.

We ended up at this cute little Italian place called Vivace.  It was fabulous.  I got penne pasta with chicken and mushrooms in a marsala sauce.  A-maz-ing.  And we were seated right next to the guitar player, who was really good.  So we sat there, chatting about things, eating our awesome food, listening to great music, and admiring the beautiful paintings of Italy all around the room.  It was all just so sweet and romantic.

I can’t stop being happy when I’m around him.  Last Tuesday, before I went into the field, he sent me a text message asking if I had time to go to breakfast with him before work, and before I could even respond, he was at my door.  I just kept smiling and smiling that whole morning.  I couldn’t help it.

Is that love?  I don’t know.  I’ve never been in love with anyone.  I’ve definitely never said it to anyone.  Can you even be in love with someone after eight months?  Is that allowed?

The funny thing is, I think I’ve heard him say it to me before.  It happened so fast, though, that I wasn’t sure that it actually happened.  I remember thinking, did he just say what I thought he did? And by that time, the moment was gone.  (I’m a little slow sometimes) Maybe he got embarrassed or something because he hasn’t said it since then.  Hmm, oh well.  I guess we’ll just go with “like” for now.  As long as he keeps me smiling, that’s all that matters.