Recently, I got an e-mail from Stacey Strum, the first girlfriend I ever had. She told me that she found my website and decided to drop me a line and say hello. In catching me up on her life, she informed me that on November 12th – she was getting married.

Stacey and I were both sixteen when we met in 1988. Being someone who couldn’t get a date in a women’s prison, I was ecstatic when I found out that she liked me. She was the first girlfriend I had – and the first girl I was ever intimate with. We spent four years of our lives together until we broke up in 1992 – and now – she is getting married.

Isn’t it amazing how we meet someone as we travel down the path of life, decide to spend a part of our lives together – and then continue our lives after we meet just as they were before we met – separate? Being someone who is always analyzing life and its experiences, I have, since I heard from Stacey, been thinking about those who have shared a part of my life – and are now but a memory.

To me, any intimate interaction with someone is a sharing of lives. Whether you meet someone and end up having a relationship with them that lasts months or years – or share only one night together – the two of you have experienced something very personal and private together. For during those moments of intimacy, it was the two of you – and nothing else. No matter if you never see or speak to that person anymore, the two of you will always have the memory of your time together.

After Stacey and I broke up, I was with Lis for four years until 1996 when I started dating Rose. I was with Rose until 1997, and that’s when I met Lisa. I was with Lisa from then until the Summer of 1998, which is when I had the most intimate experiences of my life, but they were unlike any experiences I had before. Up until that point in my life, each lady I was with was someone I was in a relationship with for a long period of time – but for the first time in the Summer of 1998 – my experiences became non-relationship in nature.

The funny thing is that while there was no love between myself and the women I was with – I still think about them. That Summer, I vowed to myself that I would not get into a relationship, but instead live for myself and experience as much of life as I can. Whenever I came in contact with a member of the fairer sex – I made it clear that if our relationship ever turned intimate – there would be no chance for a relationship. But although I wasn’t involved in a relationship with the women I was intimate with – they are still etched in my memory – and I will never forget them.

So whatever becomes of the women I have shared a moment of my life with – no matter how brief – I will always remember the times that we shared together and always appreciate the time of their life that they gave me. Whether they fall in love with someone else, stay single – or get married – I wish them the very best in life, and hope that at least once in their lifetime – even for a brief moment, they think of me and the time we spent together – and smile.