The Honeymoon Phase

SB and I have been together for nearly a year and five months now. We're in love as much as when it first started.

I was going to use this post to rant a bit about how bitter I think my friends are about love and relationships, but I realized, why waste my time on their negativity? Basically, I asked them about the honeymoon phase of a relationship. I wanted to know how long it usually lasts and to hear about their experiences and get some advice. You know... have girl talk and share stories. But the conversation lasted about 7 seconds. The end.

Luckily, I’ve made new friends. My favorite barista from work saw SB and me kiss and called us cute. She asked how long we’ve been together. I told her almost a year and 5 months now. She smiled and said congratulations. She seems pretty open about things and I’ve seen her husband around before. I asked her about her relationship and about the honeymoon phase. She said it never ends. She and her husband have been together 10 years now and their friends get mad whenever they get drunk and start making out in public (or even when they’re sober, actually.) She gave us little tips, basically to not pick fights over small things because it’s those little things that add up and eventually ruin it. Then I remembered last year. She jokingly recommended doing some role playing when I told her about my birthday trip to Las Vegas. She said we should pretend to be strangers and meet up at a bar. I thought she was a freak, but realized she’s just good at keeping the flame and interest factor high in a relationship. There’s a reason why she’s my favorite.

I have a new colleague at work who I gotten to know better. At dinner last night, I decided to ask her how she and her husband met. The table was too crazy to get the entire story and ask her about her honeymoon phase, but I didn’t need a long explanation. After dinner, the lot of us walked over to an ice cream shop. Half of the group decided they’d rather do more drinking so left and told us to meet them at a bar down the street after we got dessert. There was me, my female colleague, her husband, and the rest of men from our dinner. I stood around the men and talked while we had ice cream. The one couple stood off on their own... standing close to each other... eating ice cream out of the same cup... talking about who knows what, but DAMN did they look so in love. They had known each other for 6 years and the flame looked as bright as ever.

To be honest, I know the answer to the honeymoon phase question. It depends on the couple, but I've been surrounded by such negativity when it comes to my high school friends and talking about relationships. I wanted some reassurance that things aren't as complicated as they make it out to be and I'm so glad to have had witnessed what I did with the barista and my colleague at the ice cream shop.

So one year and five months with SB have gone by and now I can't wait to see what the future holds for us. I don't know how long our relationship will last, especially with the possibility of me going to medical school (interview in Arizona next week!) and how that will change me. College changed me drastically and I have no idea how medical school would shape me and whether or not SB and I will make it through together. But with the rate of how things are going, it looks promising and seeing how others have made it too, I hope the barista is right and that this honeymoon phase never ends.