My earliest memory of Aimee was 15 minutes before the start of homeroom in 7th grade. The only one to come earlier than I was sitting in the front row reading a book that was most probably not assigned for homework. I knew Aimee was a new student and being the friendly good mannered student that I was, I promptly found my seat on the other side of the classroom and minded my own business. Now, two other students, who we will call Tom and Jerry, had also entered the room. Jerry, a feisty shorter boy, began taunting Tom, a much taller boy. Deciding he needed to show who's boss, Tom clamped Jerry's arms, lifted him off the ground, and threw him against the white board. The neighboring teacher swung the door open exclaiming, "What's going on in here World War III?!!" We all stared dumbfounded. With a quick look around the room the teacher pronounced "All of you get out! ... except for Aimee because I know she's innocent." I was aghast; outraged at the injustice of my untimely expulsion. As I was marched out the door I looked back at Aimee with jealous indignation. I don't think she even glanced up from her book.

Aimee and I didn't start dating till after our first year at separate colleges. We had our first date at Sandy's beach three days before I had to leave to start my sophomore year at college. This started an excruciating three years of long distance dating. During Summer and Christmas break we'd both fly back to Hawaii and during Thanksgiving and Spring break I would fly north to Santa Clara. Our first three Valentine's days were spent dressing up in our fanciest clothes and eating cheap college food over Skype. It was always difficult finding things to do together and really pushed my already limited creativity to find ways to make our relationship feel special. I graduated a semester early and started work a few months. When Aimee finally graduated she and her family were only home for one week before leaving me behind for a two week vacation to Japan. We have seen each other practically every single day for the past two years since then.