Neil and Me

Twenty-three years ago today (approximately) I asked this boy on a date.  Since I'd already fallen in love with him during the prior weeks I was really happy when he accepted.  I think it was a Saturday and my aunt and cousins, with whom I lived, had gone to Santa's Village for the day, so Neil came over to hang out.  We watched the movie Imagine on VHS and then I played him my Van Morrison records.  He had to go to work at his dishwashing job at the Willoughvale Inn, but he went late.  I remember thinking that might be a good sign.

Think of it: if I had "applied myself" in high school and considered more options than Lyndon State College and /or if Neil hadn't failed out of SUNY Cobleskill his Freshman year and then gone on to take classes at Johnson and then transfer to Lyndon, where would we all be today?

I love him 23 years times as much as I did in those early days.  Today the Indigo Girls song that says "The closer I'm bound in love to you, the closer I am to free" rings in my head.  I'm so fortunate that I was a high school slacker and he went crazy partying that freshman year!  I'm so grateful that I had the guts to give him my number and was slick enough to play Van Morrison for him!  I feel so lucky that he keeps loving me back after all these years.