I talked to my boss and arranged to have every Friday off for the next three months, until my lease was up, and then I would be quitting. Every Thursday Evening I would rush home, get everything settled, and then drive the four hours to Darrin. Every Sunday I would drive back. Sometimes Darrin would drive down with on his motorcycle, but mostly I would make the trip. Slowly I transported my belongings across the state.
When the time finally came Darrin brought his truck down and together we cleared the apartment. Then we drove back across the state where I officially moved in with Darrin, bringing along the little puppy he had absolutely no say in acquiring. One afternoon as I lay on the couch napping I heard the sound of water splashing. I jumped up to find my little dog standing on the back of Darrin’s 500lb Black Bear Skin, peeing. I was MORTIFIED. I honestly thought that this was the end of our relationship. Darrin would come home and say it was either the dog or him and I would have to choose the dog, obviously. I was a wreck. Instead Darrin came home and admitted he should have hung the bear on the wall long ago and that dogs are dogs and the poor puppy couldn’t really help it. I was stunned. We worked together to clean the bear and hang him up and that was that.
In the summer of 2008 we took our first big trip together. Not only that, but we took his kids with us. They had moved back from Alaska after just a year. So the four of us flew from Virginia to Washington State where his mother lived. His mother was as nice as I expected. We got along well. She pulled me aside at one point and asked me if Darrin was treating me well. She said his father was not always a kind man, an alcoholic, and she was worried about his influence on Darrin. I smiled and told her she must have done something right because Darrin was always good to me.
Darrin’s mom was kind enough to keep the kids while Darrin and I escaped to the lake for a week. We met up with his Best friend from childhood and the woman he was dating at the time. He let us borrow a tent and camping supplies, even a 4 wheeler. I was excited to be in the place that I had heard so many stories about. Although I always suspected that Darrin had exaggerated the beauty and grandeur of it. Although the mountains and trees were beautiful, they were still just mountains and trees. It wasn’t until he took me to the lake itself, and I wandered away on my own down the dock, and sat on the floating platform at the end of the gangplank that it hit me. The sparkling lake rimmed with snow-capped peaks. The wide blue sky reflected into the depths. This was beauty beyond anything I’d seen in a long, long time. When Darrin finally came to join me I looked up at him and said, “Okay. I get it now.”
We returned home and Fall began with me teaching Head Start and Darrin attending his next level of training school. We were both working extra hard, and time passed without any conflict between us. We helped each other through our struggles, our little dog grew, we had every other weekend with his kids, and by the time summer rolled around again Darrin had earned a promotion and we were shopping for a house. Well, Darrin was shopping, and I was coming along to give input. After all – it wouldn’t be MY house. I was just going to live there.
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