30 Day Love / Truth Challenge DAY 1: First Love..what they meant/ mean to you

My First Love! I swear I'll never forget the man...EVER! (I honestly don't know why either lol) His name was Jim Bonetti. I was 16 years old, and he was 24. He was a member of one of those lowrider truck clubs that used to be so popular back when I was in high school. I remember the first time I laid eyes on the man. I was hanging out at the boardwalk in Carolina Beach, N.C. The truck club guys were riding around the loop like they did every weekend, showing off their "phat rides" (because apparently that makes you cool to show your shit off like that). I remember clearly hearing all these little girls when they talked about him, and all they were speaking about was his stupid truck. I got to wondering about the man behind the truck. (I REALLY thought it was sad that all they cared about was his vehicle). Ha, back then I was a caring, compassionate type. Where did the old me go?
Lawd, I remember seeing him out of the truck for the first time. He had the cutest baby face. That was all I could see through the truck window. When he got out, I laid eyes on the shortest, shrimpiest little fellow I'd ever seen. He couldn't have been taller than 5'5". I laughed out loud when comparing him to myself at about 5'11" already at that point. My gf Tonya introduced us, and I immediately found myself talking to someone with a brain, and ideas, and an awesome sense of humor. Every misconception I'd had about him being some "engine head" who only cared about trucks, flew right out the window.  He was amazing in my eyes, and OOOOPSIE, this 16 year old was immediately crazy about him...despite the midget thing! LOL!

He basically courted me like relationships back in the day. I fell for that man more and more everyday. He came and met my parents (they fell in love with him too I might add), though my mother had a SERIOUS complex about his height. She couldn't let it go, and I had long since forgotten about it. I also have to add they detested his truck and the bass that rattled their windows on the front of the house!  ;)

I "dated" Jim for 11 1/2 months, doing all sorts of fun things along the way with him. He was, in my opinion back then, the greatest thing to ever have been created and placed on earth. I ended up giving up my virginity to him, February 7, 1994. A week later, I called his phone and left him a voice mail telling him I was in love with him. (Wow, I was seriously pathetic.)

Jim Bonetti was my introduction into this thing called love. It ended up being a hard lesson to learn. After almost a year of being with me, he just as quickly disappeared once I'd given him that which was most precious to me. If I'm being honest, it destroyed a huge part of the person I could have been. ( I can't say I wish I'd never known him). He taught me a very valuable lesson. You never really know someone, even when you think you do. I never, in a million years, would have thought he'd destroy my young impressionable heart the way he did.