On Chapter Four
We all author our own respective books.
They say that meeting a good person is akin to reading a good book, an insightful notion with which I wholeheartedly agree. As such, my girlfriend Nicole and I label distinct points of time in our relationship as the first paragraph of new chapters.
Chapter One was when I first asked her out, obviously. The second one was when we began our long-distance relationship, me resuming sophomore year of college in North Carolina and she in New England. The next one was when we were reacquainted in Korea, our home country, for a month-long winter break.
This Tuesday (Monday was Memorial Day), I woke up to Nicole’s text congratulating us on the beginning of yet another chapter in our lives — Chapter Four, if I’m counting right. And oh how much has changed in the past few days indeed. This time last week we were meandering amidst the vast greens of New Hampshire, with nothing but fauna as far as the eye could see.
Today we both concluded our first week of summer internships at a tech startup and an investment bank, respectively.
Work life has proven to be a new challenge for the both of us — probably more for her than it is for me — and truth be told we’ve been going through a rough adjustment period. No longer can we hold on to each other for hours on the phone to make up for not being able to be physically together, nor can we enjoy the same degree of privacy that our single-residency college dorms had provided us. Tides have shifted for sure, and God knows how this one is going to play out.
Books are divided into chapters, not just for sake of convenience, but also to introduce twists in the plot. With each chapter the reader is convinced to believe that this is when Harry Potter finally meets his demise, only to see him live another day — and run into yet another mortal threat.
While our lives may not be as flamboyant and Hollywood-worthy as that of the Boy Who Lived, I think it’s safe to say that we all have our shares of the Voldemorts, the Snapes, and of course, the Ginnys. This new chapter is bound to be a thriller full of unexpected turns and surprises. But I know that by the time summer comes to an end, we‘ll be dusting off debris and ready to write yet another chapter.
Because let’s be honest, deep down we all knew that at the end of the day, Voldemort had no freakin chance against Harry.
