Bjerkaas Buffet

So, I went to Eric’s family’s thing in Ohio for Thanksgiving. (See previous post about being rejected by my own family.)

You can imagine, with my tendency to be a bit neurotic and socially awkward, that this did present itself as a bit of a reason to absolutely freak out.

(Eric pointed out that I say oxymoronic things like that—“a bit of a reason to absolutely freak out”—a lot. Huh. I’m just really funny like that, sort of. I guess.)

But I survived our Ohio adventure.

It actually was a really good time. I was surprised by how not uncomfortable I was, most of the time. Weird.

Meeting Eric’s brothers, sisters-in-law and parents was cool and all, but the best part was getting to know Eric better as I got to know them and watch them all interact.

You should know—all three Bjerkaas boys are sharp. They’ve got all these degrees and life experiences that far outnumber and outshine any of mine. I was the loser with just a bachelor’s. Not a masters. Or two masters. I felt rather boring and bland and basic, not to mention inarticulate. (Oh, and, don’t fret—the boys’ wives and parents were equally extraordinary… whimper.)

But, yeah, I got to learn more and more about how cool Eric is. Oh, yeah, which reminds me—not to brag or anything, but… I’ve got a pretty cool boyfriend.

Now you know.

And it’s hard to know, because he’s all humble and (in my conspiracy-theory-esque opinion) actually keeps his coolness secret. But secrets don’t last through a dozen or so hours in the car and five full-on days of togetherness. And they especially don’t last when family is around.

His mom was talking about all this hardcore stuff he did in the Army—stuff I’d never heard about before. (I do believe I have a regular John Wayne on my hands.) And his brothers would reminisce about visiting him when he was stationed in Germany, and about their gallivanting around Europe. And then Eric himself would do things like offhandedly mention his history of jumping out of planes.

And, even cooler, I began to see the unique strengths and… things… Eric brings to the family picture. (“Things” is my attempt to define some certain indefinable traits...)

And the biggest E-revealing moment?

When the brothers broke out this insanely nerdy Star Wars trivia game and Eric started to absolutely destroy them in it. I just sat there slack-jawed—stunned, really—as he pulled out all this ultra-geeky knowledge about movies I’ve never had the slightest bit of interest in. I’m talking obscure, obscure stuff. Wow. There just weren’t words to describe the shock/wonder that induced…

So, yeah, my boyfriend is a bit of a nerd. More than I even knew, apparently. But we both are nerds when it comes right down to it.

And, in some circles, that is also cool.

So… win, win.

And win, again—by having a really great Thanksgiving.