Member-only story
Back When I Was Your Girl
Those days are gone, but I still remember.
Once, they might have called me your would-be bride. Once, that was your parents’ greatest wish.
But that life wasn’t enough for you. Settling down in the suburbs, raising two kids, going to a nine-to-five job — that wasn’t your style. You had forever starstruck eyes, all pointed to a life lived in the limelight while your name stood out in the headlines. You longed for attention — everything no one else in our small town could ever give you — and you wanted every day to be your own chance at adventure.
With those kinds of dreams, of course someone like me got lost in the shuffle along the way. No matter how many girls wanted to strike out on their own and stand out in a crowd, I wouldn’t have minded calling myself your wife and putting my growing family first. My mother had done it. I wanted to do that too. Different girls want different things.
But, of course, different boys wanted different things too. You were the one who wanted to be in the movies, on the talk shows, in the pages of a tabloid. You may not have thought you were signing up for all of that, but I knew you were. And I was afraid for you. How could I not be? You were the first love I wanted to keep.
