Writer's note: I struggled with putting this out there, writing this for the world to see. And even though you're seeing it now, that does not guarantee that this will always be here. But I feel that this could be a part of the healing process and proof that, yes, I will be ok.
________
November 2006: first time we talked, via email and then phone calls
December 5, 2006: first time meeting/first date
December 8, 2006: first kiss and first time I've ever felt that zing, that heady feeling of meeting Someone Special
December 12, 2006: first time I called him my boyfriend
December 31, 2006: first holiday spent together
January 3, 2007: first time we said "I love you" to one another and the first time I've experience that dizzying array of emotions
February 14, 2007: first Valentines Day together and a significant night for me in so many ways
March 2007: first time we told each other each was The One
April 2007: first joint obsession--American Idol and Sanjaya
May 2007: first big challenge--moving me from my old place to my temporary residence at his apartment
June 2007: first vacation together
August 12, 2007: first concert together--American Idols on Tour!!
September 2007: first huge challenge--balancing school, an assistantship and a relationship; did not always work out in a fairy tale manner
October 2007: first Halloween together
November 2007: first Thanksgiving together; I did most of the cooking and did not feel very appreciated
December 12, 2007: first year anniversary
February 23, 2008: first time I felt supported in a school endeavor, yet it still felt conditional
April 20, 2008: first musical together, I was thrilled to share it with him
May 2008: first time apart from him for more than a week, made harder by the fact that couldn't talk to him due to five-hour time difference
June 2008: first time fighting became too hard and too much to resolve
July 8, 2008: first time I saw a side to him I had not seen before and never want to see again. Broke off the relationship
July 10, 2008: first time he hit me. First time filing a police report. First time I feel I have the chance to prove my strength and worth.
July 12, 2008: first time talking about the assault without crying. (Although I am tearing up as I write this.)