We met when I was 7 and he was 9. My mom worked as a textile artist in an old shoe factory in Tucson, and Rex's mom had her sewing shop in the same building. My two brothers and I came into work with her one day and Rex was there with his mom that day, too.
I remember that day clearly. He was sewing designs into the calluses in the palm of his hand with a needle and thread and showing my brothers his Gameboy.
I was immediately enamored of him.
From that point, our families got closer and closer. My brothers and Rex became the very best of friends. It was the early 90's, so they skateboarded, had a garage band that covered songs from grunge bands, and taught themselves to program on some pretty primitive computers. My mom eventually started working with Rex's mom at her wedding dress company, and the four of us kids were homeschooled together by my dad. Rex slept over at our house probably at least 4 times a week for a long time. My brothers went on sailing trips with Rex and his dad, our parents took trips to exotic places together, we celebrated Christmas at their house... You get the picture.
The whole time, I had the hugest infatuation with him. But he pretty much didn't know I even existed.
(My brothers, Rex, and me.)
When I was 11, my family moved back to L.A. Our parents didn't end it on the nicest of terms, so our families lost contact almost completely. My brothers and Rex stayed in contact for a little while, but it faded out.
We all went on with our lives.
I grew and started modeling, my brothers continued programming (they're both software engineers currently), I eventually got knocked up and married Captain Armani, years passed...
But I never forgot about Rex.
Every year on his birthday I would notice what day it was, and I would sigh and wonder what he was doing now and imagine running into him somewhere and catching up. I wondered if I would even recognize him, or he me.
A few years ago, Rex got my brother's phone number, thanks to the power of teh internetz. My brother came to visit him in Tucson and they had lots of good laughs about old times. We all became friends on MySpace, but I didn't really talk to him.
I was happily married at the time (or so I thought), so I just looked at his pictures and sighed over what could have been but now never would, and let it go.
As you may already know, I split with the Captain last year and we (the kids, the Captain, and I) moved back to L.A. to raise the kids there together as two single parents.
I had been Facebook friends with Rex for a while, and one day I sent him a totally benign and mundane message. I still figured that all was lost and the door was closed forever, but I did want to see what he was really like now and if he had been worth pining over for all those years.
We started writing back and forth and talking about all sorts of things old and new, and sparks flew. We had eerily large amounts of obscure things in common. We started talking on the phone and texting all day every day. One spectacular weekend in Miami later, we knew we were in love. We began visiting each other every chance we could get. He was flying me in and out of Tucson practically every week for a while. The opportunity came along for the kids and I to move out here with him several months ago, so we did. And it's wonderful.
He's the one. The One. And he really always has been.
I think there's something very special about first loves. My current stepdad was my mom's high school boyfriend and they reunited when I was a kid after 18 years apart. I believe The Dol has a similar story about her dad and stepmom with an even greater gap in time.
So, my question is this:
Who was your first love?
Do you still carry feelings for them deep down somewhere?
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