Personal Experience One of the Things I

Personal Experience

One of the things I like about my boyfriend is the way he takes care of the things that mean a lot to him, (including me). He does not have a lot of possessions, but what he has, he values, and he takes good care of them. I think this shows a lot about him as a person, because he is not sloppy like many guys his age. He likes things neat and clean, and he is proud of the things that he has worked for and bought with his own money. He keeps his room neat and orderly (don't get me wrong, he isn't anal about it), and he keeps his stuff clean and neat, too. It's nice to be able to borrow a CD from his rack and find it right away!

Take his car for example. He really loves his car; it's probably his most prized possession. He washes and waxes it just about every weekend - he loves to see it sparkling and shining. It's a 1996 Honda, and he buys a lot of stuff for it, like chrome wheels, and an awesome sound system. He's proud of his car, and I know he's proud of how it looks. I think that says something about him, that he wants to look good for people, and he wants them to know he prizes his things. If there is the least little nick or scratch on the car, he will get out a can of touchup paint and fix it right away, rather than put it off. He takes good care of the engine and mechanical things too, so it isn't just about looking good, it's about protecting his investment in his car, and so it will last for a while. I swear, when you open up the hood and look at the engine, it's so clean; it looks like it's never been used! He's saving up money now for new tires and some new upholstery, and it should look really nice when he gets them installed. He spends a lot of time at auto parts and accessory stores, and I've learned to like them too. He listens to my opinion, and I helped him pick out the upholstery he wants to get, which was very cool.

One of the reasons I know he loves his car so much is because he bought it with his own money. He's always been industrious, and he's had part-time jobs after school and in the summer for a long time. This car is special to him because he worked hard for it, and it's the first really big thing he bought with his own money. He likes to drive, just to get in his car and go. Sometimes he likes to be alone when he drives, he says he does some of his best thinking there, when he can get away from traffic and just drive. I think that part of the reason he loves his car so much is because it means freedom to him. He doesn't have to rely on his parents any more to take him around and pick him up, and it means he's growing up, and becoming a man. I think he likes that, but sometimes it scares him, and he just has to go away and think about it.

He also has a dog that he has had since it was a puppy, and he sure does love that dog. It's a golden retriever named "Lady," and she is really a sweet and loving dog. Just like his car, he takes fantastic care of Lady, because he cares about her a lot. He brushes her every day to make sure her coat is shiny and healthy, and he feeds her the best foods. He likes to take her to the park and play with her too. She's fun to play Frisbee with; she can catch the Frisbee way up high in the air, and runs back to you fast. She's a sweet dog, and I think part of the reason she is so loveable is because she gets a lot of love from my boyfriend and his family. She is like part of the family to them, and it shows. She is friendly to strangers, and would never bite anyone.

It's clear he loves her a lot from the way he plays with her. Sometimes they just play catch with a ratty old tennis ball that she loves to catch. Whenever they are done playing, he hugs her and pets her, and tells her what a good dog she is, and then he makes sure to brush her coat until it shines. I think that if you grow up taking care of something special, like Lady, you learn to be more responsible, (and my boyfriend is really responsible!). It shows in how he takes care of Lady, but it shows in other things too, like his work ethic, and how hard he studies in school. He's a good student, and he plans to go on to college. I think that taking such good care of his things helps him gain more responsibility, and find out what he likes and what he doesn't like to do.

One more important thing to him is his computer. When he isn't with me, Lady, or driving his car, it's a pretty sure bet he is working on his computer. He built this one from scratch, so it's pretty powerful, and he does a lot of things with it. Sure, he does his school papers and homework and researches on the Internet, but he does other things too, like work in Photoshop to make pictures and graphics. He really loves to do that, and I think he may major in graphic art when he goes to college. I think he should, anyway!

Like the other things that are important to him, he learned about computers from the first one he got when he was little. He knows how to take them apart and put them back together, and he likes to tinker with them. It seems if he's not buying something for his car, he's buying something for his computer. He's added quite a few things to make it run faster, and hold more information. (I don't understand all the things he did to it, but I know he says "upgrade" a lot.) He just got something he calls a "graphics tablet" that helps him draw with a thing that looks like a pen, and the lines come out on the computer screen. It's pretty cool.