May 17, 2011

Our Story: Summer and Fall of 2004

At the end of May Morris and I took our first Memorial Day Gatlinburg trip with my parents and Aunt and Uncle. My Aunt and Uncle have a lodge there. The Trip was extremely memorable and began a great tradition.

We continued to take classes through the summer and work part time as much as we could. Morris' coaching job had ended and he was doing odd jobs (like painting the Jewelry store) and working a few hours at the publishing company. As you can imagine, Morris and I did not have a lot of money. I had saved up a little but had a credit card and a car payment. We spent most of Morris' going out on dates. Money was something we both worried about because it takes money to go to school, Money to get Married, Money to have a life together after, Etc. We were even nervous about graduating because of the student loans rolling off of deferment. It was clear to Morris and he made it clear to me that there was no way we could get engaged this year and probably not until after we graduated and got real jobs. It was a devistating reality for both of us, but there wasn't much we could do about it.

I tried my best to not think about engagements, weddings or Marriage but that was hard. My Friend Ashley was engaged, I was a bridesmade and was helping with most of her wedding events. But the summer seemed to fly by! We were taking 3 hard classes and a science lab during the 9 week term and it kept us very busy!

My birthday came in early October and Morris planned to take me to the Cheesecake factory and then to the movies. Despite knowing the realities of our situation, I had a hunch. I just knew that this was the night. We got to dinner and I anxiously waited for it to happen. I waited for the conversation to turn awkward or get earily quiet, but it didn't. Morris was calm as a cucumber and the conversation was flowing like always. So when Morris suggested ordering cheesecake I told him the kind I wanted and excused myself to the ladies room. I wanted to make sure he had ample opportunity to give the waiter the ring to place in the dessert of my choice! When I returned, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. When the waiter arrived with the cakes and placed them, I looked at mine and searched it quickly to find the ring. When I looked up and saw Morris eating his, I knew. I knew that it wasn't there. I tried to hide the look on my face and just eat my cake and enjoy my birthday. The rest of the night went as we had planned. I told myself as I laid in bed that night, NEVER AGAIN! I was letting go. I was going to accept that it really wasn't going to be any time soon. I didn't want to convence myself like that again.

Later in October we planned a trip to Gatlinburg TN with our friends Paul and Julie on Halloween. We stayed in a really cool cabin with lots of rooms, a game room and a big TV! We had a really great time playing putt putt, going to the Ripley's Aquarium, eating and shopping!
I was to the point that I had completely accepted we were not getting married anytime soon.
I wasn't ok with it but I knew it would happen one day.

November began with Morris' birthday and plans to go back to the Gatlinburg lodge at New Years.  The semester was coming to a close and it had been a rough one! Of the 4 classes we were taking 3 were upper -level accounting and were very hard! We had a huge Tax project that was due at the end of the semester along with very large comprehensive test in all of our classes! We seemed to have very little time to do anything other than school! We decided we both needed a date! We had not been on a date since his birthday and we really needed some time to talk and not think about school! So we planned our date for November 22nd....our 23 month Anniversary. OK I know! Who celebrates their 23 month anniversary? Apparently we do! 

Next Up...Closing out 2004

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