I have a girlfriend.  Well, I’m thinking I probably have a girlfriend.  There is some invisible line where one moment you are dating someone and then with one step, all of a sudden you have a girlfriend or boyfriend.  I have been dating someone and now I think I might have a girlfriend.  We are both gun shy and not readily embracing the terminology.  I accused her of doing something “girlfriendy” a couple of weeks ago and then this past weekend she asked, “Are you my girlfriend?” and I thought about it a moment and replied, “Yeah.”

I touch on this theme in the Spin because there are so many of those moments when you are a teenager and some of them linger into adulthood.  Sara, the protagonist in Spin, contemplates the criteria for losing one’s virginity when you’re a lesbian.  That’s just one of these sometimes undefinable moments.

So.  I have a girlfriend.  It can mean everything and it can mean very little depending on the people involved.  I am both slightly resistant to it and on the other hand, excited about both the idea and the girl.  I apply a lot of weight to the word.  It means a great deal to have a girlfriend and to be a girlfriend.  I don’t take the idea lightly.

It would be interesting if the line we cross had a momentary illumination right before we crossed over; so, we could, in that moment, be completely aware of what was about to happen.  Life isn’t that easy or predictable, which of course makes for fun and adventure.

I have a girlfriend.  Yes, I’m sure of it now.