Thank you for suggestions on what to write about — all were great and I promise I will answer all of them! Jeana asked a two-parter (the first was about my engagement), so here’s part two:

How about telling us about your first crush?

Keith M, first grade, Hopi Elementary School. I thought he had a great voice and freckles and thought he was exotic because he had asthma. I would stand next to him during recess and hold his hand. I think he was bewildered, mostly, by my laser-like attention.

I remember watching a nature documentary with the rest of the class, sitting on the floor. There was a particularly intense scene when a bear (or tiger? or cat, maybe?) was trying to pin down a mouse with its paw. I grabbed Keith’s arm and buried my head on his shoulder, in an intentionally flirtatious manner. I was aware that my fellow classmates were scandalized by this brazen behavior.

I don’t remember how or when our relationship faltered. I know that it didn’t last past that school year, after a new boy from Belgium showed up.

I have always been boy-crazy. I’m sure there were crushes before this, but they were creepy ones on my brothers or dad. This was the first appropriate romance.