JordanandEmily

Nostalgic First Love When I was fifteen, my friend introduced me to Alexander. He was 6’2 with sandy blonde hair and basically drop-dead gorgeous. We hit it off right away and were practically inseparable. He was my first serious boyfriend and I felt completely comfortable with both him and his family. After almost two years of being together, Alexander and I fell in love. I couldn’t imagine a life without him by my side. It was the end of junior year and everyone was making summer plans. But before Alexander and I could coordinate our calendars, his dad informed us of terrible news. Alexander’s dad was in the military and he was being reassigned to the air force base, Ramstein which was located near Kaiserslautern, Germany. They were leaving in five days; Alexander and I were in disbelief. Bags were packed and tears fell fast. Alexander and I tried the long distance thing, but it definitely was not the same. After a while, Alexander and I decided to call it quits. We both moved on and after I graduated from college, I got married to a successful business man. We lived in a cute little cottage with a white picket fence and I even popped out a few kids. One day, while I was cleaning out my attic I came across a picture of Alexander and I. I stared at the photograph for a good solid five minutes and I was surprised to find that tears had started to well up in my eyes. I spent the rest of the afternoon sitting in the old dusty attic reminiscing on the days when I was fifteen and hopelessly in love. Yes, I love my husband but Alexander and I had a love that no one could compete with. It was simple, yet magnificent. Alexander had been my very best friend and at the time, he knew more about me than I did. He completed me. My body ached to have that sense of love and happiness again. I had felt so alive back then and now I just felt smothered, like I was deprived of all the oxygen my body needed. First love never dies; it stays with you for as long as you may live. So, here I was sitting in the same position for almost three hours just thinking back to the happiest time of my life. When I heard the screen door slam shut downstairs, I quickly jumped to my feet and hurriedly closed the cardboard box in which I found the old picture. I wiped my eyes free of tears, straightened my back, took a deep breath, and started to descend onto the stairs leading back to the house.

Have you ever been in love? The kind of love that leaves you breathless and jubilant ? Well, I have been one of the blessed few to be overwhelmed with this type of love. Unfortunately, that vigorous and intense love only lasted a few years, but those few years were the most astonishing and memorable times of my life. The kind of love I felt always left me wanting more, touched my very heart, and ended with lessons learned. Most people find this love in a significant other, but I found mine somewhere else. I spent hour upon hour of my toddler years with my eyes fixed on the vibrant television screen just waiting to catch a glimpse of the creature that was green and amethyst in color. Yes, I was madly in love with Barney the Dinosaur. The colossal being had a way of acquiring my attention. It is possible that the “breathless” fell I mentioned was felt may have only been caused by my lungs growing weary from belting out every sing along that came across the screen and the “lessons learned” may have only been my ABC’s and colors. However, it was my boundless love for Barney that kept me coming back to him. As I grew older our relationship began to crumble down to nothing. I had begun to see that I was blossoming into maturity, while he was still lingering in the state of youthfulness and thinking with a child’s mentality. We grew apart and I nonchalantly ceased all contact with Barney. To this day, I still discover myself changing television channels and passing right by my first love, Barney. However, my heart does not become somber ; for I am appreciative for all the lessons that gargantuan dinosaur has taught me. I know that I will never forget the feelings of love that Barney presented me.
 * A Joyous First Love**