"It's a Wonderful Life"

The Christmas of 1993 I went to NVA for a visit. My sister had just had a beautiful little boy I just had to see. Getting there became quite the ordeal. I worked at a private school at the time as an assistant to the preschool teacher where Luke went to school. I planned on leaving as soon as we were done for the day so I brought my money with me in my purse. While we were down feeding the kids someone must have gotten into my purse and took the cash, which was the only time I wasn’t in the same room. I was very distraught and started to cry losing it meant I couldn’t go. The people who ran the school felt bad and wrote me a check for the amount, very kind of them. So I cashed the check picked up Miah and headed north.
When I got home Pat said he was having a little party at his house and said I should come over. I should have smelled the set up a mile away. There were other people there but Garett was there too. The whole night I felt like some sort of zoo animal that everyone was watching. He and Josh (his son) were heading to his sister’s in Vermont the next day so that was that. Then a few days later my dad hands me a letter that came for me. For me? Here? That’s weird. It was from Garett and it was a very nice letter, sweet.
My sister wanted to go out so I gladly volunteered to baby-sit Brandon. I was just doing my standard Christmas thing and watching “It’s a Wonderful Life”. “Remember, no man is a failure who has friends.” So I rock the baby, pondered Garett and was extremely grateful for my wonderful life.


Long Distance Love


Over the next several months Garett and I would talk almost every day about school, kids, anything, everything and sometimes nothing. We both ran our phone bills so high we couldn’t pay them. So then we started writing letters to each other. It is the best way to get to know someone. Finally in the spring of ’94 he asked if he and Josh could come visit me. I said sure. That’s when the hot and steamy side of our relationship started. I went there for a few days during spring break and made Josh his birthday cake with white bugs(marshmallows) and gummy worms, he loved it. They would drive from Richmond to my house and stay with me. Back and forth we went. Then in June I found out I was pregnant. How foolish of me, a grown woman. It took me another week before I told Garett. I really was at a loss as to what to do. I owned my home here and the kids were in school and I was in school. It would mean changing everything. And Garett was in school in Richmond and working out of his place but he didn’t make that much money. So we talked and talked trying to figure out what to do. School was almost over so I sold my house and Garett left Richmond and we all moved into a townhouse in Sterling, VA. He got a good job with a company doing AutoCad and I finished off my Associates Degree at the local community college. Miah was just starting high school so it was an easy transition and Luke was just starting kindergarten and Josh was in preschool. We blended.