Jemma

It was very difficult for me to meet Jemma. I was full of jealousy that she was with Maiol and that I wasn’t (which wasn’t very realistic of me, though jealousy is not a reasonable emotion.) When Maiol was in the U.S. he told me about her – they’d dated for several years before he became an exchange student, and while they’d agreed to be "separated" during his year abroad, they still thought that they’d get back together when he returned to Barcelona. Somehow it had been easier for me to accept her when Maiol and I were together in the U.S., now that I was on "her" territory it was very different. I thought that she was cold when I met her, though my diary entry doesn’t really reflect that (and I do wince when I read that I described her as being very young.)

Now, many years later, Jemma and I have developed something akin to a friendship. When Maiol writes to me she usually includes a few lines herself, and we send each other gifts throughout the year. She confided to me, about two years ago, that she’d been really upset when she heard that I was coming to visit Maiol – she was afraid that he and I would get back together and she’d be left alone.

I do wish that I had been more emotionally mature when I met her – I think that we would have had some decent conversations and been able to air all of the emotions that we were both experiencing.