I don’t know where I went wrong. For Valentine’s Day, I decided to buy my girlfriend a star. You know, from one of those star registry websites where you name a star and get a certificate for it. I thought it was a super thoughtful gift, especially since my girlfriend loves to talk about outer space, aliens and constellations, and she always makes me stop if the
night sky is filled with stars. I’m pretty sure she wants to be an astronaut! When I showed her the certificate, though, she was borderline repulsed and insisted that we were moving too fast. We have been dating for five months now, and she has been distant ever since I showed her the gift. What did I do wrong? Please help me out here.
20 THE SHIELD | FEBRUARY 2020
I tend to deal with a lot of confused boyfriends on this platform, but this is a new one for me. I am going to give you the best advice I can conjure. For starters, was your girlfriend showing any signs of distance before Valentine’s Day? It might not have been clear as day, but did she suddenly turn off her read receipts, leave you hanging for hours or turn off her Snap Maps? These are classic distant girlfriend moves. Perhaps you upset her beforehand, but I suppose you have already considered that as well. This leads me to believe that the fault lies with your girlfriend. You need to talk with her face-to-face and simply ask what you did wrong. I am sure she has been avoiding you, and you’ve
been feeling so overwhelmed and confused that you are scared to approach her. You need clarity, though. You need to know if she has been searching for a way out and is using the purchase of a star as an excuse to leave, as bad as that sounds. On a lighter note, perhaps she did not feel as though her gift to you was nearly as sentimental and is ignoring you until she can find something to match the thoughtfulness of your gift. Whatever it might be, you need to talk to her and remind her that she can trust you with both the good and the bad. Communication is key. Try to sort this out before it drives you mad. Who knows, maybe the love you have for each other is out of this world. Get it?
