The first time we met, Alvin was recovering from a failed relationship and I was closed for renovations, not exactly the most ideal of beginnings.
Rewind to the year before. We were each in our own long-term relationships. Mine ended abruptly when my boyfriend died of a sudden heart attack one afternoon in April. His ended with a painful but inevitable break-up late the same year.
It was understandable then, that when we met over dinner arranged by a mutual friend, romance was the farthest from everyone’s mind. To be completely honest though, the fact that he was very cute didn’t escape my attention.
Everything seemed to go right that night. The food was good, conversation was great; we were laughing the entire time. Looking back, I still marvel at how easy and comfortable things felt; it was like the whole group just clicked.
For the next few months, we all hung out as a group, which was fun because Alvin and I got to know each other in a very relaxed, no-expectations kind of way. It was a lively blur of movie nights, group dates and long conversations.
5 months after we met, we became a couple. 2 and a half years later we got engaged, and early last year, we were married.
Alvin is an easy person to love. He puts up with my every-other-week mid-life crisis, he watches whatever movie I want to watch, he listens when I rant. Also, he cooks and has saved me from starvation countless times.
Ours has always been an easygoing relationship. We talk, we tease, we laugh.
I think the fact that we've both been in long-term relationships in the past and that we've both known pain, albeit different kinds, play a big part in how we are with each other. Simply put, we have learned to distinguish the essentials from the non-essentials.
