Day #2: Your first love, in great detail

I'm already behind...wtg, me!

First great loves: the movie Annie, New Kids on the Block, trips to visit my grandparents, trying to think of creative ways to earn money with the neighbor kids (lemonade/craft stands, neighborhood newspapers, En Vogue parody performance group).

My first love was MR (initials used to protect identity), and we maintained boyfriend/girlfriend status for just over a year. We met via mutual friends in December 1996, half way through our sophomore year in high school. We attended different high schools, but somehow ended up attending the same youth group with said friends. There was a lot of talk over whether or not we should 'go out,' and by the time everyone else agreed, he finally asked me on my way out of a car. This quick proposal was deemed cute & hilarious to my girlfriends; so cute that they decided to make a mock video of the event. It went something like this:

Scene: Two nervous 15 year olds squished into the back of a Ford Explorer. Vehicle reaches destination of girls' slumber party.

M - "I was wondering if you would go out with me...?"
Cara - "Yes, I will."
M - "Okay, great!"
Cara - "Okay, bye!"

Cara quickly exits the car and makes her way inside the house, pondering what just happened as her girlfriends squeal with glee. End Scene.

Yeah, talk about smooth! Some major events that occurred throughout the duration of our relationship included the attendance of a Veruca Salt/Bush concert, attending a church leadership retreat, long bus rides to each others houses during the summer, and going to my high school's Homecoming dance. We spent a LOT of time on AOL, chatting and updating our profiles to proclaim that we were "taken by SuperM**MC" or "taken by Berta629". We also spent hours on the telephone, even to the point where the conversation would lull and one of us would fall asleep. Our demise came about in February 1998 after an argument over something silly; he broke up with me the next day after church, showing little remorse. We'd simply grown apart and ended up arguing over nothing half the time. A few weeks later, I was still sad and he missed me, and we dated again for one more week before his mom finally told us to call it quits. We both obliged and knew we wouldn't work out at that point in our lives.

Our paths have crossed over the last few years at house parties and bars, and at one point, M did apologize to me for the way he ended our relationship. I think we were both buzzed when this took place, but I seem to remember telling him thank you, that it was water under the bridge, and I appreciated his apology. I may have also blurted out that he was promptly nicknamed Crackmonkey shortly after our breakup. When a 16 year old heart is broken, all you can do is pick a silly nickname and roll with it for years to come!