Move Number 3

We moved into a slightly bigger house, close to the motel we stayed at when we first came to North Carolina. Our jobs were going okay. I still had my job in retail and my boyfriend was still working in a factory. I had gotten in touch with my parents by now. This was December 1998. We got through the whole them being mad at me. They just wanted me to come home and I told them no. We were there for a reason and it had nothing to do with them. My parents begged me to come home for the holidays. I talked to my boyfriend and he was okay with going back to Maryland for a visit. The house we were staying in had this really old heater that rattled like it was going to fall apart when you turned it on. And it smelled really bad. So we didn't turn it on very often. It was always so cold in our house. I remember in the mornings, getting ready for work, I'd turn the heater on and get dressed in front of it because it was so cold in our house. The winters in North Carolina where we were at were terrible. Tons and tons of snow. Because I worked retail, they weren't keen on letting people have off at the holiday season. I finally worked it out with them that I would work right up until I left and then they let me have a few days. So we had about a week to visit in Maryland.

Downhill

Early one morning my boyfriend woke up to the waterbed mattress on top of him and I was just laying on the base. My boyfriend was trying to get out from under it and I was trying to help him. Luckly enough, after a few minutes, he got out from under it and was fine. However, we now had a hole in the water matress and water was spilling everywhere. My boyfriend started drainning it out the window. Our matress had broke the sideboard because the floors were slanted downhill bad. The foundation in the house was horrible. We got the waterbed fixed. A couple of days later, one night when we were sleeping, my boyfriends car was broken into and stolen. We had no idea where to look or what to do. At least we had my car still. As money was tight and we lived in a drug dealing neighborhood, we realized that we needed to get out and we needed to get out now. Luckly enough, one of my boyfriend's Aunts was in real estate and had found us another house to rent that was bigger and for the same price as we were already paying. We jumped at the chance. Here we go with move number 3.

Everything Going Wrong

Life was pretty good and we were so happy! I still hadn't talked to my parents since before I left for North Carolina. And it didn't bother me either. Then things started to slowly go downhill and all at once. Our money was getting really tight. We used to go to the grocery store and only buy a big bag of potatoes because they were cheap and that was about all we could afford. It's amazing just what you can do with potatoes. We had to make many meals out of only potatoes. On evening, my boyfriend was heating up some peanut oil to cook some potatoes for us for dinner. We were both in the living room and right around the corner was the kitchen. I happened to look over in that direction and it was really bright in there with a crackling sound. I got up and my boyfriend followed me. We walked into our kitchen that was on fire! The flames started climbing up the walls. I screamed and my boyfriend imediately started putting out the fire. I just stood there and watched, frozen. I couldn't believe it. Finally he got the fire out. No damage to the rest of the house, just in the kitchen. Little did we know this was only the beginning of our bad luck.

Our 2nd Move

We found what we thought was the perfect rental place. It was a house about 700 square feet. It was fairly cheap to rent. We weren't allowed to have dogs or pets of any kind. We hid Nikko. We moved in and started to make it ours. Hopes, dreams, goals of renovating it and so forth. But living there was too far to drive just to make a waitresses pay. I knew I had to start looking for a job closer to home and with a better pay. My boyfriend was still working construction for awhile. After looking for about a month, I found a job at a mall in a store called Belk's as a sales associate. I just knew life was going to be great! My boyfriend had gotten in touch with his family that lived in North Carolina since we were pretty well settled. One of his Uncle's, got him a job at a factory making decent money. Slightly more than what he made in construction and he got to be indoors as the weather had started getting colder. We thought we were doing okay and we were going to make it. My boyfriend had found a tattoo place nearby and got a tattoo one day when I was at work and he had off. I wanted one so bad when I was 16, and my parents told me no. So my boyfriend took me where he had gotten his done the next day. I was soooooooo excited! Yea, well, until that needle hit my leg. But with my boyfriend by my side, I made it and had my first tattoo.

Starting Out

So, here we were, in North Carolina with not much money, staying in a motel room. We knew we needed jobs, so that was first on our list. I found a job at Cracker Barrel as a waitress. My boyfriend found a job working in construction. Not bad, it would take a little while to save up to get a real place, but at least we had a roof over our heads and food and most important of all, we were together with no one to stop us. Things were great in my eyes. I still hadn't talked to my parents and I wasn't even missing them. We started building up our money and my boyfriend wanted to get a dog. I never had a dog because my parents would never let me have one. I wasn't really sure about getting a dog just yet because we were living in a motel room, but he finally talked me into it. We went to the pound and quickly fell in love with a male puppy who was about four months old. He was a German Sheppard/Pit Bull mix. We rescued him from the shelter and named him Nikko. It was so funny, we used to sneak him in and out of our motel room because we weren't supposed to have a dog. We used to pass him through the window next to the bathroom because no one was ever in the back of the motel because it backed up to woods. It was okay, but as he got bigger and bigger, I knew we couldn't keep doing this. But it wasn't long before our money was building up enough that we could find a real place to rent and move.

My Parents

My parents hated my husband (boyfriend at the time). They did everything possible to try to keep us apart. As a parent now, I understand why, but they went about it all wrong. He was a "bad boy". I think that's what attracted me to him. He made lots of money and had a different life. And I got to be a part of it. In December of 1997, after dating for only about six months, one day at his mother's Christmas party, he proposed to me. Of course I said yes, we were so in love. When my parents found out, they flipped out and said I was ruining my life and I didn't know what true love was. Of course I was 17, so my parents still had control of me. They grounded me over and over again, trying to keep us apart. That didn't work. I would sneak out. 1998 rolled around and I finally turned 18, and they knew there was nothing they could do any longer to try to keep us apart. But that didn't stop them from still trying. It's funny, 13 years later we are still together even through all the hard times and struggles. Yet, my parents were married for 32 years and got divorced because they could no longer stand each other. I laugh at that because they haven't been through half of what I have, and I love my husband more now than ever. Who doesn't know about true love now? True love knows no boundries, true love never dies. It can pull two people together through anything and only grow stronger. Such wasn't the case with my parents so I think they have no room to talk.
Anyhow, I finished through high school with my parents constantly trying to get me to leave my boyfriend. Shortly after graduating, the life of my boyfriend, caused a few issues and things needed to cool off. So he came to me one day and said he needed to leave for awhile and he had no clue how long he was going to be gone. He asked me if I would come with him. Yes, I couldn't stand to be away from him and his problems were my problems. I knew my parents would kill me. So one morning after my brother left for work, and my parents were at work, I left them a note saying goodbye. Then I packed everything I could fit into my car and met up with my boyfriend. We then left Maryland, the only home I had known for 18 years. We both took our cars. I followed him to North Carolina were he had some family. It was a 10 hour drive and we drove straight through. I wanted to be as far away from Maryland by the time my parents got home to find my note. We got there, and stayed in a motel room. I didn't dare call my parents for days because I knew how that conversation was going to go.

The Beginning

I'm not sure where to start, so I'll just start from the beginning. In the summer of 1997, I was 17. My best friend and I hung out all the time. We were so carefree, and couldn't wait to be an adult. I wish I could go back in time and truly enjoy my childhood all over again. I guess live and learn. One day, my best friend calls me up and asks me to go hang out with her. She wanted to go shoot some pool. I figured, why not. I'm not very good at it, but we always had fun together. We go to the pool hall that's a popular hang out, get ourselves a table and start playing. Well, not long after playing, my best friend notices a couple of guys across the room. She comes over to me and says, hey, that guy is really cute, look. I looked, I was like, whatever, he's your type, not mine. My best friend says, I'm going over there to talk to him. I'm like, I'm not coming, I'll stay here. So off she goes. I watched her. She was so confident and sure of herself. I wanted so much to be like her, but I was the quiet, shy type. After a little while, she comes back with a big smile on her face. She looks at me and said, I got his phone number. Good for you I said. What are you going to do? She said, I think I want to go out with him. I said lets play a few more rounds and leave. So back to pool we went.
A week went by of my best friend and I hanging out, enjoying summer and no school. Then on day, my best friend says to me, I have a date with that guy I was talking to. I said, good for you. She said, there's just one catch. Oh no. She said, he can't drive and doesn't have a car. I said good luck with that, not wanting to be in the middle of this. She said, well, his best friend can drive and has a car. His best friend is coming along and wants to hang out with you. It could be a double date she said. I said, no way, I don't want any part of this. Especially, to be set up on a blind date. Well, of course I went. How could I let my best friend down? I told her one time only. I said if I don't like this guy, then I'm not doing this anymore. So, it was agreed.
They came over and picked us up at my best friend's house. We decided to just do a movie. We get to the movie, and I was okay. Everything was going fine. My best friend and the guy she was crushing on were doing great. I can't remember what movie we saw, but I remember it was pretty good. After the movie was over, we were just going to go back to my best friend's house. On the way home, the guy I was set up with thought he'd show off and drive crazy. Needless to say, I was crying by the time we got back to my best friend's house. As soon as we get back, I run into her house, and lock myself in her bathroom, crying my eyes out.
The guy looked at my best friend and said, what's that all about? So, my best friend explained to him that when I was 16, just a year earlier, I got into a terrible car accident with my brother. My brother is two years older than me. One day he was driving his pickup truck and we were on our way to go see our mom at work. It had been rainning that day, all day. The best I can recall to this day even, is that my brother went to switch gears and hit a puddle in the road and we started spinning. Next thing I know, we were in on-coming traffic, with a minivan headed right at us. Next thing I know, I wake up, and half my body is hanging out of the front windshield, blood dripping down my face was making it hard to see. I felt numb. I was passing in and out. I remember my brother yelling at me, trying to get my attention, asking me if I was okay. I remember thinking, oh my god, our parents are going to kill us. I passed back out as they were loading me into an ambulance. They were assessing me and decided my injuries were too severe and called in an air transport, worried I wasn't going to make it by the time they got me to the hospital. I passsed back out. Next thing I remember was waking up in a hospital to my mom and dad standing over me. I was in Shock Trauma. It's one of the very best hospitals around us and if you wind up there, it's because you are almost dead. I was in the hospital for a week. I don't remember much, I was passing in and out. Finally, a week later, I was getting better. I had had a very severe concussion and needed several stiches on my face and body. I dislocated my left elbow and that was wrapped. I later found out that there was four cars involved in that accident, including us. I still can't recall anything more than what I've said here.
Back to my story, so my best friend tells him this story and he realizes what an ass he was. He came in and said how sorry he was. I still wasn't a big fan of him. I truthfully didn't like him at all. My best friend kept seeing the guy she liked and I kept being dragged along their dates because his best friend needed to drive. So we were stuck together. I did it for my best friend. Little did I know how much I would like him and fall in love with him. 13 years later, we are happier than we've ever been and I swear I love him more and more everyday.