December 28, 2013

Dad,

Okay, I’ll admit that I kind of wish you and Carole could have visited for Christmas, or that we could have come back to Ohio for the holiday, but honestly, I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect Christmas, and I owe it all to Blaine. You know before we were dating he said he was horrible at romance? I think he just hadn’t met anyone who knew how to appreciate it. At least, not until me.

Anyway, I want to tell you what he did for our first Christmas in our new place. Now first, I want you to take a deep breath and remember what it’s like to be young, in college, working part time. It’s a life lesson, you stay broke all the time, it’s normal. I don’t want you to think we’re destitute or in danger of starving or being homeless, okay? But we’re a couple of twenty-year-old guys who just got their first off-campus place in September. We can cover our needs, but we’re broke. We decided (okay, realized) that we couldn’t afford to buy a Christmas tree, but then I came home from school one afternoon and, well, Blaine had made us a tree.

He found this green marble-patterned sheet at a thrift store for $2 and brought it home. He used thumbtacks to attach it to the wall by the TV, in the shape of a tree, bits of it sticking out here and there for branches, the excess twisted artfully toward the center and down to create a trunk. Then, because his mother sends him some of the weirdest care packages ever, he decorated it with wooden reindeer made from take-out chop sticks, origami cranes made out of free notepads from doctor’s offices, multiple colors of highlighters clipped to the folds of the sheet, and tiny pots of jam suspended by loops of dental floss. He topped it all off with one of those spinning pinwheel things on a stick, though I have no idea where that came from.

Then a co-worker of his invited us to come to a holiday party on the 23rd. It was a blast, and really helped us relax and enjoy the fact that we’re here and we’re together. I know it’s weird, but I’ve always had conflicting images of future Christmases in my head. I imagined myself and my partner (Blaine, of course, once I met him) living here and celebrating in grand New York City fashion (watching the tree lighting, skating, seeing the amazing window displays at all the stores) but I always imagined being there in Lima with you, too. I think being here this year with Blaine, it really helped me feel like an adult a little. I missed you, Dad, and I promise we’ll come home to visit soon, but for now, I think this is where I needed to be.

Oh, but the best part was Christmas Day! I know when I talked to you on the phone that day, you heard about the breakfast he made us. I don’t think I fully explained, though, that I didn’t even know he could make simple things like pancakes! He really surprised me with the stuffed French toast, and even found turkey bacon on sale for us! We snuggled together all day watching the old Christmas movies. I still think my favorite is White Christmas.

After a couple movies, we decided to go ahead and swap presents. We agreed that because of our budget, we wouldn’t spend any money on gifts. We were just going to give each other something handmade and personal. I had been saving up scraps of fabric from all the projects in my class, even collecting scraps from some of my classmates, and made him a dozen bow ties. It seemed a little cheesy, and I know he’s got a bunch of them anyway, but he said he loved them. He looked like he loved them. I mean, you know how he is, Dad. He really can’t hide his feelings at all. But then he made me cry. His gift to me was a song. He’s recorded it at school (the joys of having college equipment to use for free!) and gave me a CD of it, but that day he played it for me in person first. It’s beautiful, Dad, all about how much we’ve grown together and how much he loves me and how he never really believed he’d be this happy, and how he wants to marry me.

Yes, Dad. We’re getting married. I wanted to tell you in person, but that may be a month or two, and I thought about calling you, but I just don’t know that I could express this over the phone quite yet. I’m far too giddy for normal conversation right now. We’re looking at sometime over the summer, but we’ll pin down an actual date later after we make sure immediate family will be available for it (so be sure to keep me updated on your schedule, Mr. Second-Term Congressman Hummel!). Of course, it’ll be here in New York, since it’s still not legal in Ohio, but I guess as our home, it’s only fitting we get married here.

So, that’s how Blaine made our first Christmas together absolutely fantastic and amazing despite just how incredibly broke we are and that we were away from our families.

We miss you all. Please give Carole our love, and we’ll talk soon. (and please, Dad, take care of yourself)

Love you,

Kurt