Dear Kindergarten Boyfriend,
Even though we only lived a town apart, it felt like a million miles away after kindergarten ended and I started the first grade. I knew I would never see you again after graduation day, and that made me sadder than when I found out we didn’t get naps anymore.
You were the first boy I ever had a crush on, even if that just meant you were the person I wanted to play dinosaurs with every day. You always let me be the brontosaurus because you knew it was my favorite, and that’s something I’ll never forget. I’ve met a lot of guys since then who haven’t treated me half as well as you did and, honestly, that scares me a lot. You set the bar really high when you shared your goldfish crackers with me after my mom forgot to pack my lunch.
I wanted to let you know that I thought about you even after we started going to different schools. Of course, we didn’t have Facebook or cell phones back in 2001, but I always looked in our local newspaper to see if you would be in any of the pictures. Thinking about it now, I’m not sure if that was creepy or romantic, but I just had to know how you were doing. You had been my best friend since preschool and now I didn’t even know what you were up to -- that was hard for me to wrap my brain around. I guess you could say I was experiencing my first heartbreak, or at least that’s what it felt like to me.
Just last week, my mom came home and said she saw your family at the grocery store; she told me that you’re doing amazing things with your life. I can’t say I’m surprised. Even at 5 years old, I knew you would grow up to be an incredible person. Even though my first “real” relationship came years and years later, I still think of you as my first boyfriend, because what I felt for you was the purest form of love I have ever experienced. There wasn’t any of that teenage drama: no guilt trips, no jealousy. Just two kids who really cared about each other. Why couldn’t I have just clung to that youthful honesty and naivety? Maybe I wouldn’t have had my heart broken so many times, but maybe that’s just a nice thought.
I guess what I’m trying to say is this: what you and I had was sincere; it was real – it was something that made growing up so much better. I’ll never know how to thank you enough.
Love,
Your Kindergarten Girlfriend
