Love Story: Part 7

The next months passed in a big huge hurry.

Adam and I attended my senior prom. This time, we wore normal outfits. I went for a little bit of a goth theme (though, how goth can you really be with blonde hair?). I wore a black dress, black jewelry and had a black mani/pedi. I did NOT wear black lipstick. I actually think I looked like the singer at the prom on the movie 10 Things I Hate About You. Kinda Gwen Stefani-ish. Adam wore a normal black-and-white tux. My dad made us take photos by his '65 Impala and his Harley. We were pretty cool.



Next was my high school graduation. Adam gave me the best gift ever...a ring.

It wasn't a "promise" ring. We didn't want to do the promise ring thing. It was an I-love-you ring. Three little diamonds set in white gold. He was so sweet.

I still wear it on my right hand every day.

The evening of my graduation, we had a senior all-night party for my class. Adam couldn't come, which I was bummed about, but I still had a great time staying up with all my friends.

The next morning however, I was slated to meet all of Adam's extended family in Hays for a Dreher Family Reunion. Adam's dad had even made us t-shirts. It was a big day.

I was a little less than at my best from the crazy night of partying (school sponsored of course, so how bad could it have been), so Adam insisted on driving separate from his family, just the two of us, so I could sleep on the 3 hour drive. Thanks, buddy.

I met three of Adam's siblings who I hadn't met before, (he has three half-siblings who are a little older and live in different states), and several of his nieces and nephews. It's strange to look back at these photos because so much has changed. Adam's sister Jessica had just had her first baby, who is going to be 7 this year. My nieces Bailey and Madeline were like 5 and 8, respectively, and they're now teenagers (or almost...)! Weird. This photo is just his immediate family, like parents, brothers and sisters and their kids. HUGE. I come from a small family, so this was just crazy to me.

For my birthday that year in May, we took the 4-wheeler down to Waynoka, Oklahoma, which was a place Adam went a lot with his friends to ride the dunes and hang out. I got an exhaust burn on my leg. But it was still fun. :)


See how cool we are?

Adam got a cat. He named him Reuben. Thinking back on this now...it's just hilarious. Adam lived on this farm with all these farm cats, and then one day when the promiscuous female got knocked up yet again, Adam decided to try and domesticate one of the babies. We're such dog people now, that it's weird to think of having a cat. Our favorite game with Reuben was to put him on Adam's desk chair, spin it around til he was thoroughly dizzy, and then put him on the ground and watch him try to walk. Poor Reuben. Adam ended up having to give him away when his family moved into town, and last we heard he was the leader of a gang in Valley Center.

After that summer, filled with me teaching tennis lessons and hostessing at Applebee's, and Adam mowing for the City of Wichita, came one of the hardest nights in my life.

You see, I'd decided that I wanted to get away from home for awhile, live on my own. So I'd made the tough decision to leave Adam and move to Manhattan (2 hours away) to attend K-State. Adam was staying here at WSU.

The night before I left, we had a date. We went out to Timberline and had been given a giftcard, so we went all out: appetizers, steaks, dessert. Then we saw a movie. Afterwards, we drove around and talked. And talked some more.

We were driving around the WSU campus (for no particular reason), and we decided to take a walk. We were on some sort of field where the track team practices shotput, I think. We sat down on the grass.

I broke down.

I couldn't believe that I was leaving. That he wouldn't just be a short drive away anymore. That I was going to be living away from him for four years. He was my best friend...in that moment, I couldn't understand how or why I'd made the decision to go to K-State.

Adam was supportive in his own way. :) While he never resented my decision to move away, he definitely made it clear that he thought I could've decided differently. But he wasn't mad about it. He just knew it would be hard.

And it was.

I'm one stubborn lady, and even though the thought of being away from Adam hurt so badly, I just knew this was something I needed to do. So in the August of 2003, Adam and my parents packed me up and moved me off to my Manhattan dorm room.

We went out for dinner before everyone headed back home. My big brother lived in Manhattan, which helped, and he came along to dinner too.

I was nervous for everyone to leave.

I'd never lived away from home for more than a week before this. I had a few friends who'd come to K-State, but no one I was really close to. I was terrified of getting through that first night after they all left. My parents left first. Adam and I finished setting up my dorm room, making the bed, putting things away. We talked. I cried.

And then he left.

And I cried.

I even checked the hallway a couple times after he left, but he was really gone.

And then I found a note. In my underwear drawer.

"I love you."

It was the first of many notes I'd find in my underwear drawer after a visit from Adam.

To be continued...