I never imagined my first Asian boyfriend would be a Vietnamese nail tech

I'm a Black American woman.

I'm tall, plus-size, and I've always been confident in who I am.

Still, dating hasn't always been easy.

A lot of men told me I was "too much."

Too tall.

Too loud.

Too curvy.

Too confident.

So I stopped worrying about fitting into anyone else's idea of beauty.

One afternoon I went to a Vietnamese nail salon for a simple pedicure.

My nail tech introduced himself as Minh.

He was Vietnamese.

Thirty-two years old.

Slim, quiet, and incredibly polite.

At first I thought we had nothing in common.

While he worked, we started talking.

He asked about my job.

I asked how long he'd been doing nails.

Before I knew it, we had been talking for almost an hour.

Every time I came back, he'd remember little things about me.

My favorite color.

My favorite coffee.

Even my birthday.

Eventually he asked if I'd like to have dinner sometime.

I was surprised.

I laughed and asked,

Are you sure? I'm probably not your type.

He looked at me without hesitating.

You are exactly my type.

I honestly didn't believe him.

On our first date I finally asked the question that had been on my mind.

So... have you ever dated a Black woman before?

He smiled.

No.

You'd be my first.

Then he laughed and asked,

Have you ever dated an Asian guy?

I smiled.

No.

You'd be my first too.

We both laughed.

Neither of us knew much about the other's culture.

I introduced him to soul food.

He introduced me to Vietnamese food.

I learned to use chopsticks.

He learned that I put hot sauce on almost everything.

People stared at us sometimes.

A few even made comments.

Neither of us cared.

One evening I asked him something I'd been afraid to ask.

What do your friends think about us?

He squeezed my hand.

They don't get to choose who I love.

Then he added something I'll never forget.

I've always liked confident, plus-size women. I just never had the courage to ask one out until I met you.

For years I thought men only wanted women who looked completely different from me.

Meeting Minh taught me something important.

Someone else's idea of beauty doesn't define your worth.

Sometimes the person who sees you as perfect comes from the place you least expect.

And sometimes, your first Asian boyfriend turns out to be exactly the man you've been looking for all along.