So there I was... 23 years old with a run-down car, crappy job waiting tables, bills piled up along with massive bottles of Captain Morgan, living with my parents - who has blasted past their wits end years earlier- and feeling like my feet were in concrete. I was stuck beyond belief. Sure, I had a great circle of friends who made my nights fantastic but that wasn't enough anymore. I needed a fresh start. I knew this path was surely the quickest route to a life filled with struggle, debt, illness and possibly a brief stint living in a car at the junkyard with a couple of missing teeth and filthy clothes. So, with that in mind, I booked my yearly trip to North Carolina to visit my Grandmother and my Aunt. I wanted to clear my head in one of the most relaxing places that I knew of.
I stayed for 10 days. 5 with my Aunt and 5 with my Grandmother. We visited for a while, watched movies, went out for lunches, did some shopping and made our annual trips to R.O.'s barbecue and Tony's Ice Cream. But one of my favorite parts of these trips were my quiet nights out on the back porch. Breathing in the "different" air and listening to the "different" sounds. Chain smoking my cigarettes, I would stare out at the shadowed trees and listen to the cicadas. This is where I had my moment of clarity, so to speak. It was as though the environment had given me a pep talk. I was ready to go back home and meet my challenges head-on.
The very next day after my arrival home I was on the phone with a potential new job. My friend Jen had told me about a position opening at the Publishing Company she worked for and I was all over it. The interview couldn't have been more casual. I knew that this was a great fit for me. I got the job with very little effort. Passed the drug test and gave my ONE week's notice at the restaurant that I had come to loathe. Within just 8 days of my touching down at the airport, I was beginning the best chapter of my life.
I settled into the new job quickly and found myself in the company of a lot of good people. One of those good people - yep - you guessed it - good ol' Gregg. He sat quietly at his desk... blue hat, goatee, work boots. I noticed his work ethic probably before anything else. I loved that he could just come into work, do his job with no complaints and go home. There were a lot of "loose cannons" in this office, we had rough deadlines and long hours but Gregg was reliable and a great compliment to the team. We became friendly. He had a girlfriend at the time - a little, adorable, tan girlfriend. I had no intentions - I just enjoyed his company. We began having lunch together. Everyday. We exchanged emails and Screen-names and before long we were talking on the phone almost nightly. We spent HOURS on Instant Messenger doing what we did best - making each other laugh. He had the best sense of humor of anyone I had met. We got along so amazingly well. No effort needed. We were who we were - no alterations necessary. Our friendship lingered this way for several months and suddenly changed one night at a party for our boss.
I settled into the new job quickly and found myself in the company of a lot of good people. One of those good people - yep - you guessed it - good ol' Gregg. He sat quietly at his desk... blue hat, goatee, work boots. I noticed his work ethic probably before anything else. I loved that he could just come into work, do his job with no complaints and go home. There were a lot of "loose cannons" in this office, we had rough deadlines and long hours but Gregg was reliable and a great compliment to the team. We became friendly. He had a girlfriend at the time - a little, adorable, tan girlfriend. I had no intentions - I just enjoyed his company. We began having lunch together. Everyday. We exchanged emails and Screen-names and before long we were talking on the phone almost nightly. We spent HOURS on Instant Messenger doing what we did best - making each other laugh. He had the best sense of humor of anyone I had met. We got along so amazingly well. No effort needed. We were who we were - no alterations necessary. Our friendship lingered this way for several months and suddenly changed one night at a party for our boss.
The picture below is from that party...
I showed up at the party with a few friends an hour or two before Gregg. My friends and I had numerous Lemon Drops and beers and just for the hell of it - some Xanax. I had actually never taken Xanax before but what's so bad about an anti-anxiety pill anyway?? The night went on ... we socialized ... mingling with different tables and groups of people... Gregg and I played some pool ... we took some pictures etc. At the end of the night I found myself sitting with my friends, my boss and Gregg. Gregg and I were involved in our own conversation and THIS was a pivotal point in our relationship. Apparently, Mr. Xanax had not only removed all of my worries and inhibitions but it had given me balls of steel as well. I was saying things that I would have normally kept to myself, buried, forever. The most important of these things? "You KNOW that if you didn't have a girlfriend right now, we would be together!" Yep. I said it. For anyone reading this that KNOWS ME ... you KNOW I would have never had the guts to say this to anyone that I had a "crush" on. Ever. Well, it was well received. Gregg was smiling - we finished talking and the night ended. My phone rang about an hour after we left the party and it was my friend Jeremy, who had been given a ride home by Gregg. "You made someone VERY happy tonight" he said. Gregg talked about it with him on the ride home and was really happy that I told him. Jeremy said he did not stop smiling.
Our relationship remained the same at work - undercover. In fact nobody knew that we even talked outside of work. We still had our lunches and our phone conversations, however, within a week or two of that party, Gregg ditched the girlfriend.
I spent many of my nights at my friend Cassie's apartment, with a few of our friends, drinking beers and playing cards. Everyone, including Cassie's brother, Nick, was up-to-speed on the "Gregg-saga" as we discussed it frequently. I was even bold enough to tell Nick that "if Gregg and I ever got together, we would get married." Later that week I invited Gregg to Cassie's apartment, she was going to be away for the night and I figured we could spend some time on our own. We hung out, listened to CDs, watched some TV, drew some pictures (silly stuff) and had our first real night alone. Sure, I drank a bunch of beers and we fell asleep watching MTV (I snored) ... it was all very Cinderella. But we loved it. And we hung out again a few days later.... and a few days after that ... and after that ... and before you know it - I was meeting his family.
I spent many of my nights at my friend Cassie's apartment, with a few of our friends, drinking beers and playing cards. Everyone, including Cassie's brother, Nick, was up-to-speed on the "Gregg-saga" as we discussed it frequently. I was even bold enough to tell Nick that "if Gregg and I ever got together, we would get married." Later that week I invited Gregg to Cassie's apartment, she was going to be away for the night and I figured we could spend some time on our own. We hung out, listened to CDs, watched some TV, drew some pictures (silly stuff) and had our first real night alone. Sure, I drank a bunch of beers and we fell asleep watching MTV (I snored) ... it was all very Cinderella. But we loved it. And we hung out again a few days later.... and a few days after that ... and after that ... and before you know it - I was meeting his family.
Our office ended up relocating to Virginia and we went our separate ways, job-wise. We totally missed seeing each other daily and having our lunches together. I stayed with the company and worked for a different magazine in another Composing site and Gregg took his part-time job to full-time as a Cook and Kitchen Manager. Every Saturday, before leaving for work, I would pack a bag for my weekend stay at Gregg's parents' house. I stayed Saturday night through Tuesday. We had so much fun that year. Just watching movies, ordering take-out or cooking-in, taking long drives. As simple as those things sound - they couldn't have been more perfect.
In October of 2003 Gregg proposed. He carved 5 pumpkins to read "Sheri will you marry me?" It was all set up in his parents' backyard when I pulled into the driveway on a typical Saturday night. There were candles lit, a little Autumn scene set up and roses and champagne inside. Left me a bit speechless. We set the date for December 4, 2004 and this year will be our 5th Anniversary.
And that, my friends, is the story of 'how we came to be' ... hope you enjoyed ...
