Air Force Shorts and Third Times a Charm

To understand the power of the shorts, we must go back to Spring 2005. They weren't meant to be anything special. They weren't a gift or something sentimental or some other token of love. But, over time, that's what they turned in to. These shorts were P's from basic training/tech school. You know how boy's shirts are always way more comfortable than our own t-shirts? Same goes for workout/pajama/lounge shorts. P lent them to me one night while we dated in Spring 2005. I never gave them back. Funny how girls always manage to keep a guy's clothing around.

Anyway, after not speaking to P for 5 months, I decided that I really needed to let go and move on. To fully do this, I had to give the shorts back. I'd had them for 4 1/2 years at this point, and I didn't want to hold on to anything that caused me to hold a grudge just because a guy made a choice I didn't like. So, I wrote a letter to him explaining that I wasn't sending these shorts back out of hate or anger, I was sending them back out of love and forgiveness. I was giving myself closure, and I wished him well. With a heavy heart, I mailed him his shorts. Of course, I knew I hadn't truly let go, but I hoped it would come with sending this package.

Getting this package in the mail was what gave P the final kick in the booty to pick up the phone before he lost me for good. I expected some sort of response, most likely in the form of facebook email. I didn't expect what I got. Even though I'd deleted his number from my phone, I knew it was him when it rang. It was one of those moments that time stops because the possibilities of what's on the other end could be so great or so very bad. I let him leave a message. I then made two friends listen to the message. I was terrified. It was the strangest feeling ever. But, then I called him back. We talked for hours. We agreed to meet in Atlanta the following weekend to see how things went.

I don't know if I'd ever been so nervous to see someone ever. It was like a blind date with your best friend. The weekend ended with us deciding to give love a third chance. We were equal at this point - I'd broken his heart once and he'd broken my heart once. This was either going to end horribly or be the best decision of our lives.

Over the next nine months, we worked to rebuild our trust in each other and to bring back the romance we'd missed. I started job searching back in Tennessee, and we started talking about a future. I guess there really is something to that saying that "Third time's a charm." It sure was for us!