It’s a tale longer than The Odyssey, maybe even War and Peace.
It dates back more than two decades; one-fifth of a century, to South Kingstown Junior High. This was their first true meeting… Matt, a short, pre-pubescent boy with hairless legs and Jenna, a “mature” seventh grader, who ran with a cool crowd. So cool in fact, that she wouldn’t even give Matt and his silky-smooth legs, the time of day.
Fast forward a few years… The place -- South Kingstown High School -- The year -- Junior.
Matt’s legs were acceptably furred by then, and his height much more acceptable than the five-foot-two he had struggled with as a Freshman and Sophomore. Jenna was the type of girl who couldn’t go a month without having a boyfriend and was rarely single, until a twist of fate intervened, and a window opened on her dance card. Matt saw an opportunity and decided to seize it.
He asked Jenna on a real date -- Whether it was out of pity or that she didn’t have anything better to do that weekend, she accepted. Matt picked her up on a Saturday night, driving from the suburbs of South Kingstown, to the BIG CITY – Providence, Rhode Island – Population 175,000.
They started with a fancy dinner, pizza, before heading to the Avon cinema, an arthouse theater on Thayer Street near Brown University. Ethan Hawke was screening his directorial debut, Chelsea Walls, and followed it up with a Q&A and signing of his new novel, Ash Wednesday. The film was fine, the book forgettable, but the memory of the date would live on forever, or at least on this website.
After the movie, they went for a walk on Narragansett Beach, Matt extremely proud of the event he had planned and executed to perfection. They sat on a lifeguard chair, staring out at the water and Jenna came to the conclusion that Matt was too immature for a girlfriend, which he was and probably still is to this day.
Fast forward again… Winter break -- Sophomore year of College.
Jenna called Matt out of the blue to go sledding and this time, he was the one to take pity on her. They flirted as they skidded down the small hill behind the now defunct South Road Elementary School and shared a cup of hot chocolate back at his parent’s house in Tefft Hill.
They saw more and more of each other over the break, but as the vacation wound down, the inevitable was staring them in the face. Jenna would soon head back to the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia and Matt back to school in Providence.
The love birds had a decision to make -- Continue their courtship or go their separate ways… Then, on one cold January night, parked at Monahan’s Dock off Ocean road in Narragansett, freezing in the Pontiac Grand Am that Matt still drives today, they took a leap of faith and embarked on the first leg of their journey, soon to be separated by a mere 450-miles.
They talked on the phone nightly, even getting cringe-worthy cute, when they rented the same DVD and watched it together over the phone, draining hundreds of minutes from their cell phone plans. Matt made trips to Virginia to see Jenna in UMW theater productions, while she popped up to Providence during school breaks to dance the night away at Club Hell, where Matt was a promoter. But alas… phase one of their relationship wasn’t built to last, and they broke up several months later.
Fast forward a third time… Winter Break – Junior Year.
Kanye West and Jamie Foxx’s Gold Digger was at the top of the charts, when the two found themselves at a house party. Jenna clearly wanted him back, but Matt played it cool, knowing the best way to get Jenna’s attention, was to ignore her.
One thing led to another and they found themselves back the thick of it, their relationship lasting all the way through graduation and culminating in a joint graduation party that very few guests actually remember, due to the number of adult beverages consumed.
Then came New York City…
Matt and Jenna moved to an actual big city right after college, but the stresses of adulting were too much for these Millennials and they broke up for a second time.
Matt pulled out all the stops this time, driving cross-country to Los Angeles with his mother, putting 3,000 miles between himself and New York City, a.k.a… Getting as far away from Jenna as possible.
He settled into the Los Angeles sunshine, while Jenna lived a fast-paced New York City life, the two occasionally seeing each other over the holidays during the five years that followed.
During one of those holidays, while Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas played on the bar speakers for the thousandth time, the two found themselves conveniently unattached and once again, in each other’s arms. They began an unofficial relationship that included nightly phone calls and visits back and forth from New York to LA. Sound familiar?
But how could this “unofficial relationship” continue, with thousands of miles between them? For a second time, they had a decision to make… One of them would have to move or they would have to end it… For real this time.
Conveniently, fate intervened, again… when Matt’s roommate, and current Groomsman Justin, decided to move out, leaving Matt in desperate need of someone to help cover the rent.
On a boat anchored in Block Island sound, surrounded by family, Jenna had an epiphany. She HAD to move west and see if this relationship was really what she thought it was. She needed to know if Matt really was, her person. She waved goodbye to her friends and the New York City streets, and made the cross-country trek, joining Matt in the California sunshine.
While she was thrilled to be with Matt, she missed her friends and family in New York, so Matt did the only thing a guy could – He agreed to let her get a cat.
Five years have passed, with the couple raising their tuxedo cat Bug and Matt finally popping the question in August of 2018.
So here we find ourselves, at the end of the odyssey… or is it actually the beginning?