Wednesday, March 01, 2006

"What I'll be doing for the next three years of my life..."

Winter semester ended. I drove home with my dad looking forward only to returning to my job at Shari's Restaurant for the summer. Then returning back to Ricks that fall to finish us a few classes before I graduated. Before leaving for the summer "S" and I had exchanged addresses and phone numbers. It made me feel better knowing that I could at least keep in touch with him, even if I never saw him in person again.

The first thing I did when I got back home was create an email address for him. He wasn't really familiar or comfortable with the internet world and I thought I would help him get into it. Instead of waiting a few days for a letter, or a few weeks before making a phone call we could email each other which was instantaneous.

This may sound really silly, but I bought myself a cheap little ring. I would wear it on my ring finger to remind myself that I liked "S" throughout that summer in case any "distractions" came along.

I'd call him every so often. Sometimes there would be no answer, sometimes his sisters would answer and tell me he wasn't home. (I later found out from his sisters, that he would see the caller I.D. and know it was me and tell them to answer the phone and tell me he wasn't home.) I'd get emails from him every so often telling me about his summer. Looking for jobs, working the potato fields, applying to University of Idaho, looking for apartments and roommates, 4th of July, and going to Lake Powell.

One weekend my roommate from school came up to visit me for the weekend. She lived in Boise, and together we drove to Seattle for a weekend trip. We went to the Seattle Symphony, walked all over downtown, toured the Space Needle. It was so much fun. The whole time I thought of "S". I put together a little care package of random little things I collected while we were in Seattle. I also took pictures of my favorite places around my hometown. I sent those pictures along with the Seattle care package.

The end of the summer was nearing. I was counting down the days and weeks till I would return to Ricks, and the music department. Most of my friends had gone on to other universities to persue their Bachelor's Degrees, but I still had a few friends that were staying one or two more semesters to work on generals classes, or a second major.

One day I came home from work to find the house empty. My parents were both working, one of my brothers was up at scout camp as a camp counselor, and the other brother was at work too. I changed my out of my smoke-stenched work clothes and into some comfortable summer clothes. I sat down to the computer to check for any new emails from music major friends or old roommates, or even more shocking an email from "S".

To my surprise, there in my email in-box was an email from "S". I was excited to click on it and read what he had to say. Most of the emails throughout the summer was telling me about the frustrations of finding an apartment at U of I, or things associated with starting there that fall. I began to read his email, and was shocked to be reading the words on the screen. He wrote me saying that he had changed his mind about going to University of Idaho to study music. One day while writing or reading an email from me he saw a banner ad about The DeVry Institute of Technology. A representative from the school came to his house and talked with he and his mom. He was no longer going to U of I, but would be starting at DeVry in Phoenix in November. He has relatives in Arizona and would be moving there after a family reunion over Labor Day weekend. The closing line of his email was "So I'm moving to Phoenix and will be studying at DeVry. This is what I will be doing for the next three years of my life."

I closed the email, and turned off the computer in shock and dismay. I had been telling myself all summer long that the following fall semester I would be starting at Washington State University and I would be close enough to "S" to continue our friendship and see each other again. If he moved to Arizona I told myself I would never see him again.

I read over the email many times trying to read between the lines for any subtleties I missed before. My only small glimpse of hope was in the line saying he would be moving to Arizona Labor Day weekend. I would be back at Ricks (30 minutes from his home) a week before he would move. I quickly composed an email suggesting that we get together before he moved to Phoenix. I had to go back to school a few days early to help run the audition process for the Symphonic Band , that I would call him when I pulled into his hometown and we could meet up.

The day finally arrived that I would be driving back to Ricks. I had packed up my little '76 Ford Pinto as well as I could the night before, and woke up before the sun was even thinking about rising. I said good bye to my mom and was on the road before 6am. Its a 9 hr drive to Rexburg, and I was bound and determined to shave off as much time as I possibly could. My little pinto didn't have air conditioning. It was late august, and that was part of the reason I wanted to get on the road as early as I could, so I could get as far as possible before it got too hot outside. As I drove I sang along with my Indigo Girls cds and contemplated my arrival at "S"'s house. What kind of reception I would get? What his family was like? Would his mom hate me? Every so often I would look down at the speedometer and realize I was going close to 90 mph and let my foot off the gas. My foot was in just as much of a hurry to get to his house in Idaho as my mind was.

The drive went fairly quickly. And I never even got pulled over. Luckily... I pulled into town and stopped at the gas station, at what I think was the only intersection with a stop light in town. I called hiss house, and luckily he was home. He gave me directions to his house, and met me in the driveway. I remember his sister was washing the car in the front yard listening to Shania Twain playing really loud on the stereo. We sat and talked for a little while. Then he suggested that we go get something to eat. I hadn't showered before leaving that morning, and I had been driving all day in a car with no air conditioning in late august. I was allowed to take a shower first. YAY! After I was dressed and showered he took me to this little Mexican restaurant in Firth. I don't think its even there anymore. The food was unrememberable, but I do remember that I dropped a bit of food from my fork and it landed on the front of my shirt. "S" started laughing and referred back to the "shelf" joke we had joked about on Valentine's Day. For desert they brought out these little cream puff things, "S" dared me to try to put the whole thing in my mouth in one bite. He did it, and I couldn't stop laughing enough to try. Finally I was able to collect my composure and shoved the thing in my mouth. I obviously didn't have as big of a mouth as he did because I had bits oozing out the sides of my mouth, while at the same time trying not to laugh and snort it out my nose! After dinner we returned back to his house, when I said goodbye and then drove to my apartment in Rexburg. I was determined that I would see him again before he moved.

The first week of school went by. I knew he would be leaving for the Family Reunion in Utah Friday morning before heading down to Phoenix. Thursday would be my last chance to see him. Thursday afternoon after classes my roommate "B" and I put together a care package. She knew "S" too, she was a music major with us. We took a box and wrapped it in composition paper, and filled the box full of little do-dads. Granola Bars, Hershey kisses, and then tons of random things. But we made a list of every single thing in the box, and WHY it was in the box.
Composition paper-in case you get inspiration for a string quartet as you're driving to Arizona.
Granola Bar-in case you get hungry on your drive.
Quarter-So you can call 'D'.
notepad-so your roommates can take a message when 'D' calls.
pencil-so your roommates have something to write with to take a message when 'D' calls

you get the idea, there was a ton of things in this little box just like that.

We planned to meet up Thursday afternoon/evening. I drove with my care package in hand. We played a game with his little brother "St", and then took his sisters and brother to Artic Circle for Ice Cream. It was so fun to be with his younger siblings. As we were leaving Artic Circle he gave me his new phone number in Phoenix, and I gave him the care package. I was walking to my car, and watched him help his siblings into the truck. He got in and started to drive away. The care package I gave him was still sitting on the roof of his truck! I took off running as fast as I could across the parking lot waving him down before he built up too much speed and the box fell off the roof. (His brother "St" says his first real memory of me is running across the parking lot to them waving like a mad-woman. "St"is 10 years younger than "S"). I was really embarrassed to be running like that, but I spent so much time and energy putting that together I didn't want it to just blow off the roof onto the road, and never see all the things I put in it. He kinda smiled/laughed as I handed him the box again, and then I watched them drive away. I thought to myself, "that's the last time I'm ever going to see him again. We may be able to talk on the phone, but I will never see him again. I hate that the last memory he will have of me is running across the parking lot after his truck like a maniac."
Posted by ABQ Mom :: 3/01/2006 04:20:00 PM :: 2 Comments:

Post a Comment

---------------------------------------