Once my relatives started friending me on Facebook, I knew the inevitable would happen. I would somehow be reunited with HP -- the boy next door, my first boyfriend and the very first dude to break my heart.
Now, when I say first boyfriend, I mean FIRST first boyfriend. I'm talking about being 6 years old playing in the sandbox kind of first. As I look back now, it's clear he wasn't good for me. First of all, he was abusive. He always pulled my ponytails or asked me to get on the seasaw with him, only to run away and cause my butt to slam to the bottom. (Luckily, my older cousin was the biggest bully in the neighborhood and he put a stop to all of that.) He was also a clear commitment phobe. I mean, he never properly asked for my hand. The only thing that solidified our relatonship was that time I put my foot down and told him that he needed to give me a commitment or I was gone. The conversation went a bit like this ...
Me: Who's your girlfriend?
HP: Ummmm... you?
Me: Oh. Ok!
HP and I did have our good times. Our dates were spent either playing kickball at my grandma's house or at his grandparents' place, watching Fraggle Rock. We spent the best days of our relationship digging up earthworms and keeping them in jars, thinking of them as our pets. I was fascinated when HP showed me that I could cut a worm in half and it would keep moving in opposite directions. He'd even use those glass jars to capture bees or lightning bugs for me. Then he'd fill the jar with water and we'd watch them drown. He was so romantic.
This was not to say we didn't have our problems. We had severe ideological differences. He loved Hide N Go Seek, while I was more of a Freeze Tag kind of girl. I went to private school; he was public. By the time I got off the bus, he was already running around the neighborhood. By the time I did my homework and changed clothes, he was inside eating dinner. He soon got new friends -- older kids who actually enjoyed Hide N Go Seek -- and I also had a new crew that actually wanted to play Barbies with me. HP and I still had our rendezvous, but things were changing and we both knew it.
When I learned I'd be moving to another state, I was disappointed in HP's actions. He didn't jump in front of the moving van, stow away in my luggage or offer to let me live with his family. Nope, he just let me run off to parts unknown without a care in his cold heart. Grrr.
Over the years, my cousins kept me updated on HP's life -- his girlfriends, his marriage, his kid, his divorce, his other marriage, etc. I came upon his Facebook profile recently when he left a comment on my cousin's page. I must say, he doesn't look at all like I remember. I mean, he's got hair on his face and everything! Imagine that! I'll bet he's still a Hide N Seek aficionado.
Photo from http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/thumb_155/11815712275B8dG6.jpg
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