letters from barabbas

The other big piece of news that everyone's been asking about:

(Now, I don't normally do this. It's something totally new for little David.
So don't make me feel like a nut for going for it this time.)

We met in Panama City on Chi Alpha's Spring Retreat, before she was Calla Maria: two sets of roommates haphazardly sharing a booth one midnight run to Waffle House. The friendships bloomed from there: Jessi, John, Maria and me. Nothing too formal. Just college kids hanging out.
Sometime during sophomore year we began to suspect that we were actually long-lost Siamese twins, joined at the head and separated by a cruel twist of fate. This explained our manifold similarities, and why we looked so good together in pictures. We worked on the Care Team together ("We care because we care!"): every week at Chi Alpha's main meetings, we were responsible for welcoming the visitors and getting them to fill out an information card. Then on Wednesday afternoon we would deliver little packages full of candy and information about what all we had going on. We were a bridge from the periphery to the heart of Chi Alpha's ministry.
Working together really helped us bond. We complemented really well. That spring break we went to Reynosa, Mexico together for a mission trip. We played with orphans and publicized a local concert, stuff like that. We had so much fun together, everyone assumed we were dating. We had never discussed it, but we both secretly entertained the idea.
So this summer most of our friends were away while we were both in Auburn, and we had a lot of time to hang out, just the two of us. We were learning about honest and effective communication together, and we exposed a lot of deep issues to one another, worked through some things together. It was a really amazing time of growth for me, thanks largely to her patience and understanding.

The day Hurricane Francis blew through we were studying together for a Stats test. Things were starting to sour. I felt like we had explored every room of our relationship that we could. There were realms left undisturbed that we couldn't enter without unlocking the door: since we had never specified our feelings for one another, there were a lot of ambiguities that were starting to wear on the both of us.
(You might frown upon the idea of dating one's long-lost identical twin, but it really can't be helped. We were in too deep. Don't worry, though: Now that we know each other a bit better, we see that we really have a lot of differences--probably too many to really support the idea of sharing chromosomes.)
I told her the truth. I had to. It was coming sooner or later, whether I wanted to face it or not. I hadn't planned on spilling the beans so soon, but I now see that if I hadn't done so soon, it might have all melted away. The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.
That's Shakespeare.
She was utterly shocked, having convinced herself that I didn't "like her like her" and we were doomed to be "just friends" forever. A few days later, she admitted her mutual attractions, and we floundered around with this new information for almost a month.
It was a...special time for us. You should want to have been a fly on the wall during one of our DTR ("define the relationship") talks. We DT'd the R with the best of them: over sushi, curry chicken, cookies and coffee; at her house, my house, on the side of the interstate; in graphs and diagrams, metaphors and movies; with humor, frustration, excitement and despair.
But we've officially assigned the "dating" title to our relationship.
Not one person who knows us both has been surprised to hear the news. This bothers her, but delights me. (She's always gotten pleasure out of shocking people.)
It's new and exciting and fun and totally a learning experience for the both of us. Pray that we're responsible with it, okay? :)

So, there's the short version. My first official girlfriend since Ivey Plaisted in the 7th grade.

Here's to you, Ivey. You taught me everything I know!


 
Look real close at her left eye, and you can see the scar from where they seperated us in the neonatal ward. My scar is on my left cheek. In the end, it's probably best we were disconnected. We were just staring at each others' butts all day. ;)