I have been in several relationships before my current one, but I have never before had a girlfriend actually meet either of my parents. While I have talked about my previous girlfriends with them and received advice or shared my experiences, it’s a very different thing. I have had several conversations in the past...
For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to become a parent. I’m not sure when the desire popped into my head, or why. All I know is that it’s been the only thing in my life that I’ve wanted for so long. When I was younger, it was just a fantasy life...
Lately, I’ve been learning a lot about pacing in a relationship. In the past, I didn’t pay much attention to how certain activities either sped up or slowed down a relationship. Nor did I really think about what that meant. This led to me, unintentionally, sending mixed signals to previous dating partners. I didn’t...
This may come as a surprise to you, my lovely readers, but my Japanese friends are mostly in their 40s or older. Those of you that have read my earlier posts would know that I have a rather narrow definition of friend, as I’ve talked about it in once or twice before. For those...
I’m in this weird place where I had to come out as an atheist. The weirdest part was that I was semi-in closets about it in the first place. As part of building my practice, I would tell people that I am “faith neutral” at work, which is fairly accurate in that I do...
My entire life, my mother has told me that one day I would “launch.” I always thought launching meant that I would go off on my own and become my own man. I would find my career path and build a life for myself entirely separate from her and my dad. Now that I’m...
I feel very lucky to have met Chad and even luckier to be married to him. He is a kind, loving and attentive husband, even if it is not in the ways I need him to be. I feel like he does his best to make me feel well loved and liked by him....
As some of you might be aware, I like romance. In all of my relationships, I try my best to be romantic with dates and romantic in how I express myself. In Japan, however, the culture is different. Expressions of affection and romance aren’t normal. In fact, compliments and positivity in that form is...
Recently a friend was hospitalized and I thought it would be nice to go and visit them. I have spent months at a time in the hospital in the US and found it to be lonely and depressing. Not a single friend of mine came to visit me. I also was the only person...
Ever since I was young, I have had bad sleeping habits. I would often stay awake far later than my bedtime, usually reading a book under the covers and using the light from my Gameboy to do so. Yes, I had a Gameboy, and I used it to read books instead of playing the...