As promised...

... another chapter...

Click here for the first two chapters.

Part III

My lovely ladies (and the few gentlemen that read this), I do apologize for being so MIA lately. I’ve been on several trips- a quick visit to Virginia and another one to New Jersey back to back. They were all a blast, just time to catch up on the real world now.

This month so far has been hard. But I envision myself like a brick wall. Beat me up, crash into me, throw yourself against me- I’ll still stand. I will get through this and the scars that are left behind will only enhance my beauty and character.

Memories flood my mind and take me back. I lose focus and concentration. I don’t mean to be stuck in the past, or to relieve every moment. But believe it or not… this is therapeutic for me. It’s helping my mental state to actually get things out in logical sentences and paragraphs. Have I lost your attention yet?

Here's to another chapter...

The summer of bliss came to an abrupt end when he took an internship job position 6 hours away. Long distance. My stomach twisted into ten thousand knots when I thought about him moving away from me, but I knew I had to be strong for him. I knew that he needed my emotionless support as he chased his dreams. After moving him up to the City of Brotherly Love, he dropped me off at the airport and told me that, “although the next few months were going to be tough… he was doing it for us… and for our future.” He promised me right there that he would be back for me. He wasn’t going to leave me behind. He was committed. And that was that.

I believed him. I held onto his words, it’s what got me through every day. I did everything in my power to support him, even though the distance wounded my very being. I threw myself into school and work to keep my mind off him being so far away, and the weekends that we were able to see one another- I held onto every second we were together.

Aside from the distance being between us, this was also one of the hardest times of my life for other reasons. My brother became horribly ill and it was months of painful sickness before the doctors figured out what was wrong with him. My mom needed my support and I was 6 hours away from her too... the only support I could offer was my listening ear over the telephone. My cousin was killed in a horrific accident. I faced tough times with roommates and best friends. The only thing that got me through was knowing that on December 16, my love would return to me for at least a month. I lived for the day he returned and we could put the long distance phase of our relationship in the past.

He came back and things fell into a routine. I ended up moving out of my house with my best friends and in with someone else. Things settled down after the holidays and we established a “norm” after the new semester began. I got him a job, granted- it wasn’t he most glamorous job… but in this economy, you kind of have to take what you can get. You know what I mean. I worked part time and went to school. We spent our nights off painting the city… errr- doing homework. I was just happy to be with him again, to hug him, to kiss him, to snuggle with him, to cook for him, to fold his t-shirts and tuck them neatly away in his drawer. I was just happy.

Fast forward a few weeks to February 21, 2009. You may remember this day- a year prior, we had made our friendship into an official relationship. Yep- it was our first year anniversary. We had planned to go visit his hometown for the weekend months before the actual weekend. It was a mini vacay, and we had planned to spend the days just relaxing and doing some sight-seeing, as I have a passion for historic buildings. I expected nothing more or nothing less than a quiet, restful weekend with him in one of my favorite places in the world.

That’s just how the weekend was spent, up until Saturday night. We rested, went sight-seeing and toured all the historic buildings; went to a classy dinner at a downtown swanky restaurant. He had told me that my anniversary present was coming after dinner in which he surprised me with a horse drawn carriage ride around town. I still wasn’t expecting anything. After the ride, he pulled me down off the carriage and presented me with a card. Just as I looked up in slight confusion, he was down on one knee... asking the question that every girl waits her entire life to hear. He wanted me to be his wife- and he was giving me a ring to prove it. I lunged at him squealing with glee, hugged him and cried as he spun me around.

I was officially his future Mrs. and the happiest girl in the entire world.

It's not over yet...