“Don’t get in over your head!” my best friend hissed, but her warning fell on deaf ears. I fully intended to roll with the tides, especially tonight. As I folded up my laptop, and carried it with me, I saw him, lit by the blue glow of my cell phone screen. He smiled at me, I smiled back, and while she pretended to sleep to do me a favor, he and I moved to another room to sit on the sofa and peruse the internet.
We had spent a good amount of time watching videos online, laughing together, sitting very close on the sofa, when he put his arm around me. Even sitting here typing, I can still feel the warmth arching across my back, and my heart is beating faster than normal. A few minutes later, I had my very first kiss.
It sounds perfect. And while I was in the moment it was. But, he lives around 600 miles away from me. The only reason I met him was because of my best friend. I shared my first (and second) kiss with my best friend’s cousin. Looking back, our relationship was doomed from the start. I had an inkling, even with my friend’s warning that night, that I was going to get in over my head.
Looking at the world around me, however, has helped me understand, and even helped me to be happy about what I did. There is so much war and poverty, sickness and uncertainty, that we must value the moments of peace and perfection that are given to us. We can’t afford to refuse the little we’re given just because we know that that’s all she wrote. Human beings need to start cherishing the short, beautiful lights that will help us keep away from the approaching darkness. We can’t let greed keep us from being happy.
I can understand, and be grateful for, my friends warning. She didn’t want to see me hurting later on. But as for me, I miss the time we could have shared, but I don’t regret sharing what time we had. In my case especially, it was truly a light in the darkness.