Thin Air, High Hope

In line with my blogging plan (check it out here), this week’s post is all about having some fun. And what’s more fun than talking about love?

Now, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m typically quite a serious person. Those of you who know me now might find that hard to believe (or maybe not!). I can vividly recall a time back in college when a friend told me I needed to smile. Not smile “more,” mind you, but just smile, period.

Then, along came Alex. Oh, how his sparkling blue eyes and infectious grin immediately won me over. Not in a Disney Princess “let’s-run-off-into-the-sunset-together” way, but more like a “this-is-my-new-best-friend” way. We crossed paths for a brief five minutes at a wedding reception, and we quickly discovered that we lived a good 500 miles apart.

The distance didn’t deter him. He managed to find my email (yes, email… so old-school!) online at OSU. I had actually written it down for him, but my handwriting was so atrocious that he couldn’t decipher it. Nevertheless, we started corresponding regularly. Before long, I decided to make the drive up to his city. Of course, it was TOTALLY unrelated to a certain pair of captivating blue eyes – I was there solely to explore potential graduate programs.

Our first date happened that weekend. He was performing in a talent show, and I went to watch him. He did a comedy routine. It was side-splittingly funny, at least to me. Sadly, nobody else seemed to share my sense of humor. Later, I found out he wasn’t even trying to be funny; he was attempting to create an awkward silence as a lead-in for the next act. But I didn’t know that at the time. All I knew was that I loved listening to him talk, and even his “dad” jokes had me in stitches.

Fast forward 17 years, filled with their fair share of ups and downs. I still have moments of stress and anxiety, and there are days when I forget to laugh. But those moments are fleeting. My very best friend has an uncanny knack for bringing laughter back into my life.

Yakov Smirnoff, “If love is the treasure, laughter is the key.”