our story, pt. 5: texting

As I write this, I realize all over again how important texting was to the early stages of our relationship. I think I'm okay with that, for a couple of reasons.

One, I think dating, in the initial stages at least, is supposed to be more casual. Why would you call some girl you hardly know on the phone when you much more readily text all of your best friends? It's just kind of unnatural, and dating doesn't need any help with the weirdness factor. It's got plenty of that all on its own.

Two, I think that some infiltration of technology into social interactions is inevitable. A few generations back, people probably felt a little weird about getting phone calls instead of hand-written letters. Someday, texting might seem really formal and adorable, the way a hand-written letter is now.

Three, well...texting worked for us! We're married now! I'm sure not gonna complain. Especially because Chris has sent me some really adorable text messages over the last year-and-three-months. The one he sent me the day after our second date probably still ranks as my favorite.

I was at work, and had just finished spilling all of the juicy details of the night before to my co-workers. From the break room, I heard my phone go off.

"That could be him..."

"Go, girl, go!"

They didn't need to tell me twice. I dashed to the breakroom and opened up my phone. Lo and behold, it was Chris. "I've been trying to come up with a good excuse to see you today," the text read, "but the only one I could come up with is that I simply just want to see you today. If that is not too lame of an excuse, please let me know."

Cue freakout. I'm so glad he wasn't there to witness all of this.

"OMIGOSH that's like the cutest thing everrrr! Guys, look at what he just sent me! So sweet! Eeeeeeee! Oh, hey, guys? HOW DO I EVEN RESPOND TO THAT?!??"

Fortunately, after I got it out of my system, I was able to play it cool. "It's an okay excuse, I guess." Wink. (Ah, texting.) I told him I'd be busy prepping the blood drive that evening, but if he wanted, he could come over and use my GRE prep book to study.

So he came over, and, surprise surprise, we didn't get anything done. We ended up on the couch, just talking, again. We shared backstories, intimate information about our lives and histories that would definitely affect our relationship, if we chose to have one. We mourned with each other.

I think I came away from it feeling a little more crazy for how fast things were going, and strangely, a little less crazy too. We weren't perfect, and this would be a lot of work if things kept going, but we could at least empathize with each other, knowing we needed empathy just as much ourselves.

And maybe, just maybe, all this would be okay.