Relationship Series: Meet my Boyfriend: Q and A with Alex

One of our many Eiffel Tower pictures from the fall of 2018.

I started this relationship series in 2018, when I was single and looking for answers about men. I interviewed my brother and every male friend I could find. These posts are some of my most popular posts on my blog! They’re some of my favorites too.

Alex and I started dating after I posted the first one. I kept Alex a secret from T&P for almost two years. Oops! What you probably don’t know is that he was usually behind the camera and listening to my crazy ideas and stories.

We just celebrated our third Valentine’s Day together, so I thought it was fitting that T&P got to know a bit more about Alex and I.

Summer 2019, I went and visited Alex in Chicago and met his family.

What is your name and where are you from?

“My name is Alex, originally from the Chicago-land-area and now I live in New York City.”

Claude Monet's Garden in Giverny, France.

How did we meet?

“I don’t even know the actual date that we met. But 214 French class at Wake Forest University in the spring of our freshman year.”

Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France.

How did we start dating?

“In France. We went abroad, I didn’t expect to get into a relationship, it was a semester to go have fun. When I least expected it, we became friends, and then shortly after, you became my girlfriend. I thought you were annoying for a while, and then I realized that I should get to know you before I make an assumption, and then I got to know you, and the rest is history.”

Our first photo:

I sent this photo to my mom, and then she knew there was something going on...This photo is from the beaches in Normandy.

Where was our first date?

“You took me to a soccer game in Dijon, I spilled beer all over myself. I played it off though.” (We both studied abroad together on the Dijon full emersion program though Wake Forest University. There were 13 of us from Wake and our French professor.)

Central Park in December of 2020.

Where was our first kiss?

“In Tours, France. But not in the Best Western. (That’s where we were staying with our study abroad group). I was going to kiss you, but you said our first kiss wouldn’t be in a Best Western. So, then the next night, I brought up something about how you didn’t want to kiss me in a Best Western, so you said something like let’s start over, and then you reintroduced yourself and then leaned in and kissed me when we were walking to a bar in Tours.”

La tour Eiffel

What is the best dating advice you can give?

“Like any other relationship, this is something I am still working on, but putting the best interest in the relationship, ahead of your own personal interests. Sometimes it isn’t the easiest... you can’t think about yourself anymore, and now you have to think about how it will affect both of you together.”

Lausanne, Switzerland. This is the first photo I posted on my personal Instagram account of us together.

What is the hardest part about dating me?

“You have a very strong personality, you know what you want, and you’re not good at taking criticism. If someone tells you otherwise, it is brushed aside, that is sometimes tough because my first instinct is to follow, but sometimes you have to make yourself heard, because both parties feelings are equally valid, and you don’t want an explosion.”

Barcelona, Spain.

What is one thing you have learned from dating me?

“The importance of skincare. Self-care, in general. The cultural norm for men is to not do face masks and to not watch girly movies, and sometimes you take some heat from your friends, but it is okay to take care of yourself and do what makes you feel happy.”

 

Shag on the Mag at Wake in 2019.

What’s the biggest change you have experienced and how have you changed after being in a long-term relationship?

“Freshman year before we started dating,  I don’t want to say crazy, but I was a lot more all over the place, with partying, and being stupid with my friends, my immature side, which is fine. It’s college, that’s when you’re supposed to do things like that, but I’m okay not doing those things anymore.”

Brooklyn Bridge, summer 2019.

What is one thing you know about me that T&P wouldn’t know?

“That you’re really afraid of the dishes.”

Through the Decades Kappa Delta Date Function, Fall 2020.

What is our favorite thing to do together?

“Go to restaurants. We love eating.”

High Line, NYC, summer 2020.

When did you tell me you loved me?

“In January, on the quad at Wake, after we got back from abroad, we just got home from a Hornets v. Bulls game in Charlotte and you wanted to go to a frat party, so I grabbed you when you were on your way, on the quad and told you.”

 

Spring Break 2020 we went on a cruise, just as the world was starting to panic about Covid.

What is your favorite place that we’ve traveled to?

“Say it on three: one, two, three: Venice.”

What’s your favorite photo of us?

 

Kappa Delta Spring 2019 Formal

What is your favorite memory of us?

“When we were in Venice, on the bridge, and I was taking a picture of you. That whole trip in general is one of my favorite memories.”