On a roadtrip with my dad from California to Arkansas. We are about 16 hours into our trip. I’m driving and it’s getting late at night. I think my dad has finally fallen asleep. In an effort to be safe and not text and drive, I whisper to Siri.
ME: Hey Siri, text Andrew Josef Weiss.
SIRI: Okay. What would you like to say?
ME: I love you. Period.
SIRI: Got it. Sent!
DAD: WHAT?!
I have NOT been in an exclusive committed relationship for about 8+ years.
Within 2 weeks of meeting Andrew, he swooped and LOCKED. IT. DOWN.
In the middle of a pandemic when I wasn’t letting anyone other than my Pod in my 6 foot bubble, he somehow got me on a plane. And not long after we met, got me to lower my mask…and he kissed me.
LIKE IN THE OLD DAYS!! NOT over Zoom. Not through text. Like, real life, OLD SCHOOL swapping spit. Part of me thought, “...Aaaaaannd this is how I die.” But it was so good I was willing to take the risk that day. There was a point in this quarantine when I had doubts I’d ever hug another human again! But when I met Andrew, I felt like.. I felt like I was home. (Except that teeny tiny moment when I dropped my pizza on his khakis on our first date.)
This was the year I was determined to end up with the blacketiest, black black black power black man I could get my hands on. So naturally, God sent me a white boy from Oregon who has never dated a black girl in his life. There was a huge Guiness World Record virtual expo event called Podfest which is a total dream if you need inspiration for your podcast. He produced the event. And I spoke at a small portion of it for Broadwaycon. We shared the same zoom screen for all of two minutes. Next thing I knew he slipped into my DMs on Instagram.
Next thing I knew I was on a first date out of state that lasted four days.
Next thing I knew he was in Fresno meeting my parents.
Next thing I knew I was meeting his entire immediate and extended family.
Life feels like it moves so slow, UNTIL IT DOESN’T. Especially in this pandemic. If you know me, you already know that I will follow my heart to the ends of the earth. Whether that’s selling my things and moving across the country, switching my major, quitting my dream job because it felt like it was “time” or staying single because things didn’t feel like they were in total alignment. But this time, it’s the opposite.
We met. We clicked. We both said yes. And not just a ‘yes’: It’s a HELL yes.
I remember Andrew saying, “Life is short. Let’s just see.” Or something like that. And for the first time maybe ever, my whole inner being had a full blown YES!
In the past when I’ve walked hand in hand down the street with a black man, people just smile and don’t care. When I walk down the street hand in hand with a white man, people have OPINIONS. I see it all over their face. I don’t mind it, but I do notice. Some people love it. Others appear very uncomfortable. And when Andrew holds my hand, I remember that dating interracially is still “a thing” to some.
It may have come up that if we ever have kids, in particular a boy, even though they would be mixed race, the world doesn’t generally see “Mixed Race.” The world sees: “Black.” He’d be raising a black man. It’s like we blinked and all the stuff on the TV hit a little differently.
I love him. I do.
He is one of the most inspiring, motivational people I’ve ever met. He’s the culmination of every self help book I’ve ever read. Lol. But what I really love is that we both carry around our stationary—in case we need to say thank you.
He lets me wear his socks.
His hand effortlessly finds mine.
He always lights a candle for dinner.
He will actively yet subtly match the colors I’m wearing when we go out.
When I’m spazzing out about something, he always stays grounded and calm (even if he’s also freaking out on the inside).
We always make big plans—movie night, venturing into Yosemite National Park, going to the MET, and instead…the movie never got started. We found a small beach at Yosemite and didnt leave that spot the entire time. We ALMOST made it in the museum but instead found a beautiful view and…we just talked. Talk and talk and just hang OUT with each other. I will choose to get lost in his eyes any day I have access to them.
After a long, hard grueling pandemic, after getting laid off from The Britney Spears Musical when Broadway shut down, after the fear and the doubt and the unknown swirling all around me, I THANK GOD to feel joy again. To feel light again. I thank God for the energy in New York City feeling like the place I initially fell in love with. I thank God that I will be working again soon. And I am so thankful to God for the man of my dreams falling in my lap AND that it’s MUTUAL, and RECIPROCATED, and that he is IN TO ME TOO.
So basic. Yet so mind blowing.
I’m so grateful for his spirit. Sometimes I look up at God and am like, ‘Really God? For me? This is exactly what I wanted but I didn’t know it actually existed!’
Who knows what the future holds. We will keep taking it a day at a time. But as for today, God has done exceedingly, abundantly above what I was asking or thinking.
Follow Andrew on IG @theandrewjweiss and if you happen to be interested in Crypto or Bitcoin or whatever that stuff is, meet us in Florida beginning of June for an event he’s producing. Shoot me a message for a discount code 50% off. I’ll be there “volunteering.” (AKA laying on the beach 😂)
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