one of my earliest crushes was a girl i met on the local park district swim team. it was one summer in middleschool and we hung out at a few swim meets. for those who dont know how those work you basically sit around, snack, and socialize waiting for your event, then swim as hard as you can for a minute or two, then go back to socializing. theres lots of time for bonding and its summer so everyone just hangs out in their swimsuit.

i just remember wanting to be around her and look at her and talk to her and she was cool with me being around and included me. she was so cute and warm and easy to be around. if i had known what i was feeling back then i would have asked her out for sure, but silly innocent prepubescent me didnt know what to do with girls at all. i learned later that she had had a crush on me that summer too, but only several years later when her feelings had cooled. weirdly it never hurt to learn id missed my shot with her. it was just nice knowing she had felt the connection between us back then too.

i still think about her and how i felt back then sometimes. im glad i got to be there with her and i hope shes doing ok. i would still give it a shot with her.