Maj Understood

"This is my favorite picture of you," Maj said as he showed me on his phone.  It was a picture of me, standing in front of the memorial for Southern soldiers from the Civil War. 

"Why?" I asked.  You couldn't see my face. My back was to the camera.

"Because this is what you love," he replied.

No one had ever understood me in that way.  No one had even shown interest in what I was truly devoted to uncovering.  But he was. This wasn't the first time Maj had been introduced to it either.

Not too long into our relationship, I sent Maj a copy of my senior thesis, because he said he was interested in reading it. 

A few months in, we were driving around Augusta and I saw a memorial in the center median of Broad St.  I wanted to stop, but I didn't outright express that. But Maj could tell I really wanted to look at it, so he insisted that we stop so I could take pictures and examine it closely.  I was ecstatic! I was so giddy at discovering this. And I was so happy that he let me explore this opportunity.

When his favorite picture of me was taken we were drive back to North Carolina from Augusta.  We were stopping in Camden, SC because we thought it would be fun to see the Revolutionary War museum.  Maj was driving down the street when he pulled off near a park, because he had spotted what he thought was another memorial for me to explore. 

When I asked him why he had stopped, he told me it was because he knew I would ultimately want to see it.  Maj had done it for me. 

Carrie from Sex and the City loves the Love Letters from Famous Men, Vol. 1 in the movie.  Mr.Big types them up and e-mails them to her.  You need someone who understands what you care about.

I began to wonder.  Maj understood what I cared about, what made me who I was.  But did I understand what he really cared about? Was that part of our downfall?