The Po Show

It was 20 Years Ago...ummm, Three Weeks Ago

I really shouldn't let this anniversary pass by without remark, though I guess I did. It was 3 weeks ago, but in relation to 20 years, 3 weeks isn't all that much.

20 years ago, three weeks ago, Ross and I became a couple. Now that label means a lot of different things to different people, and what makes a couple is as variable as the number of couples there are. I tell people that this anniversary is the anniversary of the first time we had sex, but that is mostly a quip.

Really what happened that night was that my eyes opened to the fact that I loved him, and that he was the one for me. It took getting stoned to bring down our inhibitions about the fact that we were friends, and had been friends for a long time, and our fears of what would happen if we took the leap to more-than-friendship.

20 years ago, but it seems like a couple of days ago that we were standing next to the ladder to the loft in my dorm room, high as kites, and started kissing. We were exhilarated, we were freaked, we were going to be late for a movie. One of my roommates walked in, realized that something was up, was embarassed for us all. We quickly made an exit and went to that movie.

It was a double feature, which provided a long time for us to keep freaking and wondering what the hell the other person was thinking. Between the movies, I went to the bathroom and, as is common in women's restrooms, had to wait a long time. Ross feared I had panicked and left.

The evening progressed, and it was clear that there was a lot of strong feeling between us. The waves crashed below us as we walked along the Capitola shoreline and we kissed. Several times other people paused nearby, then were chased away by our relentless kissing. It was like the world had opened up a new window. Things progressed further, though the end of the evening was pretty de-romanticized when my roommate and a friend (who were SUPPOSED to be spending the night at the friend's place!) came back to our room.

Thus September 28 became our anniversary. Every month for the first year we went out to dinner to celebrate, as silly teenagers in the first year of a love affair are wont to do.

20 years ago, we were 19 years old. I am overwhelmed with the incomprehensible nature of that statement. I can't believe we were that young, and I can't believe it was so long ago. I can't believe I've done anything for 20 whole years, but I have loved this man for that long.

And he remembered! When I picked him up at the train station, he was carrying a bouquet of flowers. No wonder it's lasted 20 years.