Old dating memories

I just recently heard the song "Need you now" by Lady Antebellum. Yeah, I am a little slow. But for the moment, it is my favorite song. I think I have listened to it 20 or 30 times in the last week. I still crave it. The song reminds me a lot of past relationships.

Brooke - The first girl I dated when I got home from my mission. She was a southern girl. I had only been home for 4 days when we went on our first date. In fact, she came to see me at my homecoming and we held hands. I seriously thought she was the one. Just as quick as it started, the relationship died. Brooke was living in another state with my sister and contemplating a nanny job in Germany. She decided that the Germany job was right for her and she didn't want to get too attached. She moved to Germany and married a guy there.

Amy - Amy was the second girl I dated after my mission. She was this spunky confident girl that dated lots. I somehow mustered up the courage to ask her out. I wrote several songs about dating her including "Amy Dirt" and "Empty." I didn't have a job while I was dating her so I had lots of time to sit around and play my guitar. She told me I needed a haircut and I grew my hair out for over a year to prove her wrong. Amy named my first car. When she left for the summer, I knew it was over. I would have followed Amy anywhere but she wouldn't let me.

Stephanie - The kinda-girlfriend of one of my mission companions. He told me to take her out but I think he was joking. Our first date was to a crappy Ben Affleck movie. I held her hand. I wrote several songs about dating her including "Until I'm gone." I knew she was struggling with whether it was ok to date me or not. I had long hair. I listened to rock music. Her parents totally did not approve. I sent her flowers one day. Big yellow ones to show I cared. She called me, said thanks for the flowers, and then broke up with me. When my companion came home 6 months later, they started dating and were married less than a year after I dated her. I had lunch with them a month ago. They have three kids.

Mindy - I dated Mindy a couple of times right before Christmas that year. She was my roommate's cousin. We went to the Nutcracker and I felt like I was the king of the world holding her hand. She was the prettiest girl I had ever dated (still holds true today). Spunky and fun with curly blonde hair, I nearly failed a math class in college staying up talking to her the night before my final. We watched The Shawshank Redemption and held hands the first night we met. I lay in bed for hours after she left. Just before Christmas, Mindy told me she was planning on going on a mission (she was 18, girls have to be 21 to go on a mission) and that it was pointless to have any serious relationships before that. She moved back with her parents. That May, she got married to some guy she met while working at a cheap restaurant. It hurt more than I can possibly convey.

Dating is hard. I know some people might think that I fall way too fast for girls (TheCaptain) but I don't see it that way. Every time I fall for a girl, I worry that I won't fall again. That I will never feel as strong about another girl as I did about the last one. In less than one year home from my mission, I fell in love four times and was burned four times. In the past year, I have not fallen in love once. Some of the happiest times in my entire life were when I was dating Brooke, Amy, Stephanie and Mindy. Maybe they wouldn't have made me happy in the long run but I will never know. It hurt when they burned me but I would gladly risk it again.

Notes: On Saturday night, I called up Pulse to go see Sherlock Holmes with me. I met Pulse on the cruise and we clicked. Pulse is a bit of a weirder girl though. Vegetarian animal lover working at a non-profit. On Saturday, I received a text from Spinster. She said she had started dating someone while I was on my cruise. I am pretty sure I called that one before I left on the cruise. I wrote Swift a message today on facebook.