The Early Years

I think the first time that I relaized about love, I was in 8th grade. His name was Jay (names have been changed to protect their identity and possible embarrassment!).
Jay was adorable; he was about 2 inches shorter than me with blonde hair and blue eyes. He was my first boyfriend. This was at a time when there was not the internet or text messages or cell phones or even caller ID. He used to call the house and my mother would answer and I would get flustered and be so excited about him calling me. The term "going out" was what we used to define the status of the relationship. My mother used to say "you and Jay are going out, but you really don't go anywhere...neither of you can drive!". I have to say she had a point, but I was crazy about him. We "dated" for about 6 months. He had his best friend dump me on the phone because he wanted to dance with another girl at a dance that I did not attend. I sobbed, I yelled, I called my girlfriends, I vented to my mother, I wrote angry notes, I talked badly about him, I tried to justify why he dumped me, I contrived stories about him in my head, and I then sucked it up and moved on.
16 years later things had not changed. That is when it all began...