Show me your fangs
    Tell me something that’ll save me
    I need a man who makes me alright
    Tell me something that’ll change me
    I’m gonna love you with my hands tied
    Show me your teeth

    — Lady Gaga, “Teeth”

It was New Year’s Day of this year when I was first bitten. I remember the surge of pain in the side of my neck, immediately followed by a pleasure that shot through my whole body. I was shocked and pulled away in disbelief.

“Did you just bite me?” I asked, a bit angrily.

“Yes, did you like it?” he responded.

I thought about it, hesitant at first, but realized I really did like it. When I leaned back in for some more, I felt the warmth of his mouth encompassing my throat, followed by the stinging of his teeth as they dug into the flesh, and then a sense of satisfaction as goosebumps covered my body.

That’s about all I can say, as I’ve agreed to not make this person a subject on my blog. But biting is my newest obsession.

It’s a feeling that’s new and different each time I experience it. Sometimes the intensity is so strong that I have to make him stop, yet I want more and more, as if I’m testing the balance of pleasure and pain that I can endure.

My neck is often covered in red marks, but thankfully they fade quickly and never draw much attention. At worst, it looks like I have dry skin and have been itching it. Nobody would ever guess my secret fetish.

Surprisingly, neck biting is fairly safe. (Yep, I’ve researched it.) The skin on your neck is too thick to actually penetrate with teeth, and even if you did bite hard enough to make it bleed, you wouldn’t be able to go deep enough to do any damage. In fact, the biggest risk is infection from the bacteria of the teeth, rather than the actual act.

I think it’s so hot, and I love biting back too. Mmmm….

Well, not really a she-man, and not really in love, but I needed a catchy title…

Anyway, a random thought popped into my head today. I was thinking about a girl I liked in 5th grade named Erin. She was Cherokee Indian and already had a mustache you could weave a winter jacket out of. We played during recess and always shared a bag of Fritos Chili Cheese chips.

In retrospect, I probably just liked Erin because her facial hair made me think of boys. But I could really go for some chips right now. Mmmm…

Okay, not all of my love stories are epic, but that’s the story of when I fell in love with a she-man.

Or man-she. Whatever…

The text message caught me by surprise. I pulled out my phone to read:

    I just want you to know that you are an amazing man, and I deeply value you and your friendship. Thank you for all that you have done for me.

When I saw his words, I was overcome with emotion as I felt the tears rise to the surface. I tried to hold back and keep myself together as I sat in the restaurant.

My friend has been battling cancer for the second time in his life. I remember the phone call, just a little over 3 months ago, when he was feeling hopeless, faithless, and had decided he was going to die. He’d picked out a casket, made funeral arrangements, and admitted defeat.

But despite the understandable doom and gloom he was going through, he’s surviving. He isn’t dead. So what a shock it was to see him tell ME that I’m an amazing man, when I think he’s the amazing one. I can’t begin to imagine what he’s been through. All I’ve done is listen to him when he needed to talk. That’s not so incredible.

A lot of people in the world are dealing with their own personal hells. I have friends who are heartbroken, friends who are sick, friends who are unemployed, friends who are lonely… We survive because we have to, need to, or just reach a point where we don’t want to suffer anymore.

That’s the incredible thing about the human spirit. We can be reborn, renewed, relieved. We can start a new chapter. I’ve done it plenty of times myself.

I know someone, somewhere out there needs to hear this today. Find your warrior within and keep fighting.