Into the West

The next morning when I logged in to check my email I found another OkCupid message from beach_stud. "Uh oh" I thought, I wonder what kind of crazy response this could be. As my eyes skimmed the message, I was genuinely surprised.

"Hahaha, I have plenty of friends to play volleyball with. Trust me, there is much more to me than just that one thing. If you're still interested, we should chat some time and see if some of our other interests match up."

The next day we ended up connecting via IM, and began chatting about all sorts of things. We discovered that both of us had come out to our families within the past year. We talked about work, where we went to school, where we wanted to live, and other common topics. Most important (to me anyway) was that we talked about our views on both religion and family. He was Jewish, and seemed to be a somewhat spiritual person. On top of that, he had a lot of respect for Mormons, and had apparently dated one in the not too distant past. I explained that I was going through the process of redefining my beliefs, and was uncertain of some things. What I did know, was that I liked the concept of an eternal family, and that I wanted any serious relationship to be based on the idea that we would be "together forever."

The more we talked about these subjects, the more I realized that our views of the future seemed to be in sync. Before long I was joking that he was Mr. Perfect. Aaron (by now we were obviously on a first name basis) was quick to correct me after I used this nick name several times. He was far from perfect he said, and even had several examples to back it up. The other thing I learned about Aaron was that he liked to drink - and more than just every now and then. From our chats I would guess he averaged 3-4 nights out drinking every week. I explained that I wasn't really sure about my thoughts on drinking, and to my surprise, he was actually strongly against me starting, or even trying just one glass. He seemed to respect and encourage my standards.


All of these chats took place over the space of one week. Friday night rolled around, and I decided to head out to Disneyland by myself at the last minute. It was the last day I wasn't blacked out during the holiday season, and I wanted to see the lights, the holiday fireworks, and Fantasmic.

The weather was perfect. An overcast sky with alternating bouts of rain ensured that the crowds were controlled and the temperatures remained reasonable. As I ticked off the various rides on my list, I became increasingly emotional. It seemed like the last two weeks of solitude were snowballing into an avalanche. There were several times during the night when just a few bars of a particular musical score would catch my ear, and cause the tears to well up. "What is wrong with me?" I thought. "I'm an emotional wreck." After Fantasmic, I wandered around the park for another half hour before heading back to my solitary bed.

Despite the low of Friday night, the next several days weren't all bad. I continued chatting with Aaron and started to look forward to those few minutes every morning. On Tuesday he asked me if I would like to meet him for hot chocolate and a sandwhich, so we made plans for a week from Thursday.

By the time Sunday rolled around Aaron informed me that he didn't really want to wait until Thursday for our first date. I was planning on Sunday dinner with my parents (he loved the idea of family dinners every week) and so we made plans to meet up shortly after dinner. He had a busy day and that afternoon he texted me:

"Hi El Genio. I've had a pretty busy day and am feeling really tired. I know it's not an ideal first date, but I was wondering if maybe we could just talk and watch a movie."

I was fine with this, so we decided to meet at his place later that night. 7:30 eventually rolled around and I found myself driving the streets of Venice as I searched for a parking space. As I edged the Yaris into a tiny space, I popped a cinnamon altoid into my mouth and hopped out of the car. His apartment was a little difficult to find, so I called Aaron and heard his voice for the first time. He quickly came out to find me. There, in the dark and with the ocean breeze blowing around me, I saw Aaron for the first time.