There’s always a first…

Dear Afterellen’s Staff and Editors,



Since apparently Hallmark and other similar companies did not make yet “Thanks for having me meet my soulmate” postcard I decided to use the old fashioned way: a thank you letter.

And what a better occasion to do so then the 4th June!

Why so much enthusiasm for a common summer day you say?

Well it may be common for you as probably few billions of people out there, but it has something kinda special for at least 2 people that I know.

In fact, exactly 525.600 minutes ago (I know, I’m a sucker for RENT…) me and Girlfriend life paths crossed for the first time, albeit virtually, right on your web site.

Of course at the time she had a proper nickname and was just one of the other few Italian members you had registered…and I was just looking for fellow Italians readers to expand my msn contact list with a general email sent at multiple account “hey, thanks to have accepted the invitation nice to see some fellow Italians here…” (or something like that...)

Now, what happened in the between, in the following 12 months, is too complicated, and not to mention private, to discuss it here but let's just say that not even in my wildest dreams (or nightmares considering how I felt about commitment back then) I would have envisioned the story of us as it is unfolding nowadays.

It didn’t matter the distance Karma shamelessly put between us, or our diverging backgrounds and life stories, nor even my turbulent past or hers.

We clicked, we matched, we ended up, maybe not even knowing how or when, being constantly in each other minds, we fell in love and we still are.

We need each other like lungs need air, and the distance, which maybe helped us to not rush things, building our friendship first before taking the chance of something more, now is becoming much more than a geographic nuisance.

Of course not everything is perfect.. for example I’ve completely lost street cred with my peers.

I mean, just last year, I was the poster child for the “love-them/leave-them” lesbian club… now? I’m a cuddle bear who miss not having her gf in her arms each and every night.

Just one year ago I would have had no troubles two timing someone I was dating.. now? I’m giddy every time Gf make up another silly-cute nickname for me (yes, as you can see by my constant use of the word girlfriend I’m not the one in charge of forging cute and sweet nicknames).

More than a few friends and acquaintances have told me that I didn’t look, or sound, like myself anymore and nevertheless I’ve never felt more at ease and more myself as I am these days.

So this is just to let you know, that sometimes impossible or unpredictable things can happen, even just with a simple personal message, a polite response and maybe, just maybe, the not fully aware sensation or feeling that fate sometimes works in the strangest ways.

So thanks again, all of you.

I sincerely hope to make this thank you letter a tradition for many anniversaries to come.

yours truly,

theGentleman