Santorini: 1986

There is a man who texted his way back into my life a few weeks ago.  To get context you have to flash back to 1986.  I was 20.  I'd been to Greece the summer before (1985) on a student-exchange program and met Tasos.    Tasos and I were inseparable that first summer from the day we met.  At the end of the summer I had to go home.  I went back to school, attending a local community college.   At the time I thought it perfectly normal and nothing special for me to buy a one-way ticket the next summer to go back to Greece to go be with a man 13 years my senior in the name of love.   My family flipped out and with good reason, looking back.   I left home in Early July.  Tasos and I traveled around for the summer, camped on beaches, explored the monasteries in Meteora.  Tasos knew exactly how to play me and did it very well.  I think at that age it's easier to just give in to your emotions and let them lead you wherever they may.  Tasos was all Greek, dark, charismatic, sexy, and my first big love.

September came and he had to go back to work teaching music. I didn't have a job and had invited a girlfriend from high school to come to Greece and go travelling. Over her 6-weeks in country she and I explored Greece a bit.   We ended up on Santorini, an island in the Mediterranean.  One evening we were sitting in a little taverna watching the sun go down over the core of the volcano (Gorgeous!).  We were playing, "Guess that nationality" where we'd try to figure out where the patrons of the bar were from.

A very blond man walked in.   My girlfriend immediately thought he was German.  I knew he was American.  I was right.  He had that friendly smile that only Americans who LOVE to travel have.  That smile says, "Hi!  I'm open to whatever experiences I find while traveling".  That was Mitch, to a T.  He soaked his travel up with every fiber of his being - just like I did.  While we go for the destination we know the trip there and back is really the best part.  That's the meat of it and where the magic happens.

So that evening in the Taverna I smiled at him and he promptly came over to our table to say hello.   I, speaking Greek, responded and asked him how his day was.  He was trying valiantly to communicate while we were pretending we didn't speak English.   Just a few minutes in my girlfriend and I started laughing and speaking English. We all became friends, including another guy showing up the next day.  His name was Mitch and we shared crazy chemistry but I was involved with my Greek lover so our chemistry was of no consequence.  We all spend the better part of the week together, hanging out at a nude beach, exploring the island, laughing, etc.   My girlfriend focused on sun worship and the other guy was trying hard to get laid - by anybody.  This left Mitch and I to share time on the beach in long talks.   After the end of the week my girlfriend and I went back to Tasos'; house.  That other guy - I'm not sure where he ended up.  Mitch went on to Egypt to see the pyramids and finish his "Bang Your Head World Tour".

Here we are, hanging out in Thira on the Island of Santorini.  We're both 29 years older now, hopefully wiser, definitely grayer, and that chemistry - it's still off the charts.

A half a year later I'm back home in America after Tasos punched me (on the chin with his fist).  We had a really stupid fight, and No, I didn't deserve it.  It's a long story not right for this blog.  I left a month later after selling my camera to buy a ticket home.  I didn't tell my parents why I was home until I was 46 (yes - 26 years later).  I digress.

Back to the story: about a year after my escape, Mitch and I planned a Santorini reunion.  We met in Chicago for a long weekend. The other two didn't join us. Mitch got a great room and unbeknownst to me at the time had hopes for romance.   I didn't let the energy we shared amount to anything.  I didn't have the words to say some things that I needed to say before getting intimate and because I didn't (couldn't) tell I wouldn't let Mitch touch me and just shut down.  I hurt his feelings.  Mitch never understood why I didn't act on the obvious chemistry that was so thick you could cut it with a knife.  Years later I found Mitch's phone number and spoke with him once about 7 years ago for a few minutes.  We promised to keep in contact but didn't.  I left a few messages over the years and got no responses.  Last October I found him on Facebook and was thrilled when he accepted my friend request that same day.   We have had no other contact though until he clicked Send with a Happy Birthday text a few weeks ago.   And that his how Mitch came back into my life.

Chemistry between us is still very much present, proven by a ridiculous number of text messages and emails and hours on the phone.  We've always had horrible timing for romance and still do.  I am very happy to have Mitch back in my life, even if I can't feel his breath on the back of my neck...