Today is my anniversary in which Kevin and I became “official” boyfriend and girlfriend. It was all the way back in 2013.
I went off to college in the autumn of 2012, quickly realizing that I had made the wrong decision. After a few weeks at my new school, I realized that it wasn’t for me, and I wanted to go somewhere smaller and more specialized in the degree I wanted to pursue.
I ended up transferring to DelVal for my second semester of freshmen year. I remember my mom being really excited about the move and exclaiming, “I have a really good feeling about this!” I was feeling a little jaded at the time, after having bad luck at the first school, so I sort of rolled my eyes. But I certainly wanted to believe her.
It was the middle of January when classes begun and I moved into DelVal. Right away, I met Kevin and his friends, and I still remember it all. We met at the gazebo. My first impression was that he was a very friendly and respectful guy. He was outgoing and seemed to make friends with everyone, while I was extremely quiet and shy, but hoping to make a lot of friends who could push me out of my shell.
I remember the first time we took a walk around campus together and it was just the two of us. On the inside, I was so incredibly nervous, but I tried really hard to stay calm. I’m pretty sure that I was barely speaking, and luckily Kevin did most of the talking, I was just so nervous that it was hard for me to talk much. I was glad that he didn’t take it personal, and he could see that I was just shy, although he was probably a little bit unsure at that point.
Our first date was at “the pub” which was a place to eat on campus. It’s really funny because Kevin was going on and on about the chicken nuggets, telling me how I had to try them. I was not yet ready to tell him I was vegetarian – I was scared that he would judge me. But at that point, I had no choice but to let him know! Thankfully, his response was very sweet, and he thought that was cool, which was a relief. But to this day, I will always tease him about how he went on about the chicken nuggets!
I also remember when we first exchanged numbers. We made plans to go to the club event together, which was in the gym, where you walk around and look at different clubs you can join. I had arrived early, so I was walking around a bit by myself. As soon as I saw him walk through the door, my eyes lit up, and I ran up to him. He told me it was in this moment when he actually knew that I was interested in him — since I’d been very withdrawn before that.
Now, all of this happened in less than two weeks. And then, came January 26th, which was the school dance. He invited me to go with him – and most of the freshmen class was there (which was not a huge amount, since this was a small college.) I danced with him all night and it was so much fun! And that night, I said to him, “you need to ask me to be your girlfriend.” I knew that we both wanted to be together, but I needed it to be clearly official, and so he did!
So, you could say our anniversary was the 26th or 27th, I like to say the 27th because that was the first full day.
By springtime, we had fallen in love, and told each other “I love you.” Although, I was very shy about our relationship. When my mom asked about him, I said this direct quote: “we’re just keeping it casual.” In return, Mom had burst into laughter. I said this because I just didn’t want to make a big deal out of it, even though I really was deeply in love. I didn’t want to get my hopes up too high.
From there forward, Mom would always say, “Laura, what happened to ‘keeping it casual’?” As a way of teasing me. And we would both laugh about this.
That summer, I invited Kevin to come to my family vacation to Ocean Grove for the day. He met Gram and Cliff (my grandma and step grandpa) who had been very eager to see him. Gram was really excited. And I still remember a direct quote from Cliff – “you look like a fine, young gentleman.” It was so sweet. Kevin also met the rest of my extended family of my mom’s side and I know he was overwhelmed to meet so many people at once, but he had a great time. During sophomore year, I met his family, which was wonderful.
Our relationship became very serious in a short amount of time. Aside from school breaks, we spent every single day together. We saw each other before class, between classes, and after classes – we even had a few classes together! We had the same friend group too.
Sophomore year, both nineteen years-old, we’d been together for a year at this point. It was a little hard to see all of my friends in completely different places. They were all single for the most part. A tiny part of me wondered if I was missing out. So, I actually broke up with Kevin for about a few hours, until I realized my mistake and quickly changed my mind!
Near the end of college, Kevin had to go back home, and we became a long distance relationship. We saw each other every weekend but we were over an hour apart. It was hard to no longer see him every single day. Despite this hurdle, Kevin went to great lengths to see me as much as possible and keep our relationship going strong.
Once college finished, I was determined for us to move in together. Some people warned us that maybe it was too soon, but we’d been together for almost five years at this point. But still, we were only twenty-two, so we were young. It was us, in a tiny studio apartment, with a cat (shoutout Venus!)
We lived together for a few years, and these were some of the best years of my life. When I was twenty-five, I moved out and got my own place. I still couldn’t shake that feeling of “am I missing out?” It’s not that I wanted to go out dating a new guy every night (I never joined apps or anything!) More so, I wanted to see what it was like to make my own choices as an adult. Like, I want to binge watch my favorite TV shows. I want to pick my own furniture. I want to decide my weekend plans and not feel like I have to compromise on every single decision. I just wanted independence. And I felt like both of us had a lot of growing up to do.
Shortly before turning twenty-eight, Kevin and I reconnected. And I realized that all of that “independence” is BS! I do have regrets over our time apart. During our relationship, all of my friends were single. And now that we’re back together, almost all of my friends are married and having kids. It’s quite ironic!
At this point, it feels like we have grown up together — when I think about how young we were when we met. When I was so withdrawn, quiet, and shy, I needed someone like him to pull me out of my shell. Kevin is also introverted but he doesn’t have the same social anxiety as me, he’s very charming, and knows how to break the ice and make people feel comfortable.
We both really love nature, which includes going on camping trips or simply taking a quick walk through the woods. I would say that I’m a lot more spiritual, and Kevin is more science focused, but he also knows that there’s more to life than what meets the eye. We are both pretty goofy and like to be silly.
I like to be somewhat private of our relationship, and I think so does he, so that we can protect it. But I wanted to share this story of how we got together, how we fell apart, but came back even stronger. We are not on any specific timeline, just because our story is a little unconventional, does not take away the amount of love we have.
You know what they say, and my mom always said this too: if you love someone, set them free — if they come back to you then they were always yours.
Crystal Aura Gaze 
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