“The struggles of trying to ‘date Christian’ have started to chip away at my resolve”
Photo: J.V. Aranda Recently, I was on a movie date with a Long Island cop named Vinnie, when we bumped into some acquaintances of mine. I apologized to them for missing a barbecue they’d hosted and offered to catch up soon. As they crossed the street, Vinnie asked if they were co-workers.He didn’t reply, leaving my words to hang in the air between us. The awkwardness was still there when he bent down to give me a stiff parting hug at my train’s turnstile. We didn’t go out again.
I left the job not long afterward, and decided to move back to New Jersey for a while for a mental regroup. James and I kept in touch, and soon I was spending weekends at his place in Greenpoint. My journal from this period reads like a series of wide-eyed TripAdvisor reviews of Brooklyn: “The restaurants have old, dim bulbs installed on purpose.” “On Saturdays and Sundays, you can order eggs till four p.m.” Every experience was shiny and new, including my feelings for him.
James grew to be the person who understood I needed three pillows on my side of the bed. He knew to show up with lemons and aloe-infused tissues when I caught a cold. He knew about the anxiety I wrestled with daily. But he didn’t understand why I schlepped to Union Square on Sundays for church, or how big of a deal it was for me to lead a Bible study in my neighborhood, or the unique encouragement I got from my Christian friends’ insights.
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