Marc and I's love story is something scripted straight out of a romantic comedy (my favorite movies by the way). Think about it. The plot consists of two people meeting, falling in love, parting ways due to an obstacle, and then ultimately realizing they are each others' true love, and then reuniting. Something that our story follows to a T!
I'm having kind of a hard time formulating this post . Not because I have nothing to say, but because I want to say it all!Our love story is difficult to actually put into words. So let's just dive in right from the beginning.
How We Met
We met our Freshman year of high school in our sixth period Biology class. To be more specific, in room B-14 under the supervision of Ms. Lenz. But we didn't start actually talking until two months into the school year. On October 28, 2011 - in the most classic digital age way possible - we started talking over Facebook Messenger. And by the end of that night, he asked for my number.
On October 31st we had our first "flirty" face-to-face interaction. Our class was making our way over to the computer/library building when Marc stopped to talk to me and told me that I looked...."awesome". Referring to my way too short Carebear costume. And three days later, somehow that goofy and awkward interaction was all I needed to know that I liked this dude. So on November 3rd, Marc asked me to be his girlfriend in the school courtyard. We then walked holding hands for the first time around campus until my mom arrived to pick me up. Then just as we neared the corner to where the car was (just out of sight), we shared our first kiss.
Two days later we had our first date. What do two 14 year olds do for a first date in Reno? Well go to the movies of course! We initially went with the intentions of seeing Paranormal Activity, thinking that his mom could buy us the tickets (yes, I met his mom on the first date), but were shut down. So we over corrected and went to the more age appropriate Puss in Boots movie. It was my first date ever (well first boyfriend ever actually) and he did not disappoint! It was full of laughter, kisses, hand holding, and best conversations. Even after when we sat around for an extra two hours in the movie lobby. From there on we had a date pretty much every two weeks. And that's when our love story started to pick up.
Three and a half years later, we went through every immature and infantile aspect of a high school romance. We snuck around, found stolen moments in empty houses, stayed out way past curfew just to have a few more hours together, celebrated birthdays and holidays together, went on family vacations together, and had a ton of cheap dates (usually was between McDonalds and a movie at home or Asian Garden and a movie theater date - depended on how much allowance he got). And of course had more than our fair share of jealousy and insecurity too. And through all the good, the bad was what we began to focus on, which ultimately drew us apart.
The Big Breakup
In February of 2015, all of the immaturity built up to an epic explosion. We decided to break up. Well technically, he broke up with me. Why? Well let's face it - you're not exactly ready for a mature adult relationship as a teenager. And it's not unusual to want time apart to grow and find yourself as an individual when you've been with someone the WHOLE duration of your growth period. Plus, we knew that no matter what, we would ALWAYS hold special places within each other's hearts. We were each other's first loves, and that's what meant the most. What we didn't know is that NOTHING would ever fill that void or ever compare.
Despite the split, we still kept in touch over the next year. We were still friends on social media, received and sent drunk texts, and let each other in on anything big that was going on in our lives. Because honestly, I personally couldn't have imagined not sharing all of the important things in my life with him. This of course led to a lot of regret. Probably the only thing I have ever regretted in life. I regretted it all. For being jealous for no real reason at all that night. For not fighting hard enough to stay together. And for not going on that Six Flags trip he invited me to a month afterwards to possibly get back together. Because I lost some valuable time with him.
And then the moment happened. The moment that we saw each other again. And when it happened, I knew immediately that the breakup was the biggest mistake of my life!
The Makeup
In July of 2016, I was working at Keva Juice when his familiar face walked up to the counter and I felt all the butterflies and happiness that I had felt from the very beginning of our story. He came in to get a smoothie, and we just talked, and talked, and talked. Of course until i had to get back to work. And the whole rest of my shift the only thing that I could think abut was him. At the time, it was really shitty of me since I had a boyfriend at the time, but there was love there with Marc that I tried to bury over this whole year and then the moment brought it all up again. And I couldn't just ignore it. So I broke up with my then boyfriend and started talking to Marc again. We INSTANTLY clicked back together.
A week after the moment we decided to give us another try! That's when we got together and talked about it ALL. Obviously, we knew that we broke up for a reason and couldn't just ignore it. Now that we were adults, we addressed the issues, came up with solutions, and then MOVED ON together. For all intents and purposes, we started fresh and with that we created new boundaries. We agreed on things in general that were important to both. That way we could perfectly avoid the past mistakes we once took in order to have a happier and healthier relationship this time around. And we even talked about our future. Because there's absolutely no point in trying again if our futures didn't align this time. We talked about our plans, values, life goals, and what we envisioned for our future.
All due to this one day of communication, assessing our feelings, taking each other serious, and not just jumping back into each other without thinking we established the happy and healthy relationship that we have now. We took the days slow...well until our world got changed with one little heart beat.
Now
On May 17, 2017 we welcomed our first born - Christopher Matthew Valero. On September 28, 2018 we got married! And on June 3, 2019, we welcomed our daughter - AnnaLynne Rose Valero.
And through it all, we've shared some of the most fragile and intense times of our lives, the teen years, young adult years, and parenting. We shared in times that our childhood came to an end and our lives as adults were formed (chances are we've actually shaped a lot of each other together). Sometimes I still think that it was a fluke or weird twist of fate that I found "the one" in high school. Sure, our conversations can be slow at times, having exhausted our list of unheard stories years ago. But it just means that we have found comfort in the silence and that we are completely fulfilled by each other's presence. We've learned how to lean into each other's weaknesses and fill in the gaps so that the road of life won't feel so bumpy through all of the ups and downs that we experienced over the years. We now know with certainty that our lives have only been made better by sharing it together.
I know everyone's story is different, and nonetheless special, but I am so thankful to have started mine at the raw age of 14 years old. Even if I may still not know what the hell the anatomy of a cell is.
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