In college, I fell hard for one of my best guy friends, but a series of miscommunications and unshared feelings sent us in opposite directions. I moved to CA for graduate school, leaving him behind in MI. Despite the distance, I continued to think about him and hoped someday we might work out. On a trip home for the summer, we went camping with some friends, and my hope for us became stronger. Around this time I got a Giving Key with HOPE engraved on it. When I saw him in December, we decided to give long distance dating a try. I wanted to give him the key—to tell him of the hope I had for us—but it felt too vulnerable, and I held back. He visited CA in April, and the time finally came. As he hugged me goodbye on the curb of LAX, I slipped the key into his back pocket with a note, and told him to open it once he got through security. A year and a half later, we’re still together, and in a month, I’ll move back to MI. He has worn the key everyday since I gave it to him. Hope for our “us” has sustained our relationship throughout this season of physical absence. And hope for our future is giving me the courage to uproot and drive east. Hope holds us together.
