Member-only story
“Well, Howard, as a matter of fact I do.”
Howard: Part I
September 24, 2025
I met someone recently. I so liked him. I really really liked him. I was hopeful, for once, letting myself hope, just a sliver of solid hope.
But then…
This happened…
If you’re following my story, you know I recently had weight loss surgery. I’ve lost 44 pounds. Yes! Thank you! I’m feeling good! It’s coming off slower than I had hoped, but it is coming off!
Anyway.
I have given a lot of thought to how I want my sexual expression to look going forward. I had decided I am not going to have vaginal sex until I have lost more weight and addressed some pretty significant health issues (nothing life-threatening). Also, I have genital herpes and decided that I’d wait to disclose until I was actually ready to have vaginal sex. All those decisions were firmly in place and I felt good about them. Disclosure is fucking hard, no matter how much of a herpes advocate and an online herpes educator I am, disclosure is just fucking hard. I was glad I had a solid plan in place, and I didn’t have to think twice about disclosure for the time being. Whew!
So, things were going relatively well with Howard. I was having a big time crush, thinking about him a lot, too much…
