The Story: June

Yep. June was the month that things really began to change, though how much was evident to others was minimal, if at all. Jesse said that he made a decision at karate camp. That was the first week of June (Sun 5-Tues 7). The second week of June (Sun 12-Fri 17), I was in South Carolina for a library conference. The third week of June (Mon 20-Fri 24) was Western Loudoun Community Church’s Vacation Bible School.

From some notes for myself written shortly after we started dating and before I knew about Jesse’s decision at karate camp:

“WLCC Vacation Bible school. While Jesse is a co-leader for games, I only scrape together enough time and attention to show up on the actual nights and help with crafts. We spend hours each night after VBS visiting and wandering through Round Hill in the summer evenings. During VBS and our times afterward, I look up to catch Jesse watching me or staring at me. It would unnerve me a bit, but when I looked into his eyes, he never looked away, never apologized in word or deed. This is the week that I realized that there would have to be a decision point. So many times when my friendships with guys reached about this point, I could use some irrefutable reason--such as distance or wrong timing—to gently shove the relationship back firmly to the plane of “just friends” without significantly marring it. This time, I didn’t have any such excuse handy…and wasn’t sure I wanted to find one. I began to anticipate the Ireland trip as a chance for my parents to meet Jesse in an extended, but casual setting.”

Continue: The Story Restarted