If you’re new to the blog… welcome! Head over here, lest you be confused, to check out part one of how Drew and I came to be. The following is part two.
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So there I was, left in the dust, desperate and alone, searching for someone else to photograph with.
I’m kidding. It didn’t really phase me.
Several weeks later, I headed to my neighbour’s house for a BBQ. Drew happened to be there. I made an offhand comment to him about being sick of the east coast (no offense guys, we love you).
“I want to go back west.” I sighed. “Me too.” he responded.
That was that. We talked all night, like we had known each other all our lives. I was again struck by how easy Drew was to be around. Kind, thoughtful, goofy. Never afraid to be exactly who he wanted to be.
A few days later, he asked if I wanted to come over and watch a movie. I did. As we sat side by side, watching Garden State, he reached over and took my hand in his. There was something in this simple gesture that melted my heart, which back then, was not always easy.
A few nights later, we took a trip to the local “mountain” (read: big hill), a spot called Poet’s Seat. Back then, we had a weird, gut-wrenching affinity for Taco Bell, so we grabbed that greasy goodness and headed up the hill. We sat together on the stone barrier, looking out over the city. Again, we talked. About everything. We talked about our families, friends, our beliefs, our pasts. About kids, pets, our hopes for the future. We talked about light and shadow, about the art of seeing things differently, about photography and our passion to turn this dream we both had into a reality. We ended up staying on that mountain late into the night.
We continued to talk over the next few days. He went to New Hampshire for a shoot, we texted all day. I went to Boston to drop a friend off at the airport, we texted all day. I got stuck at an embarrassing number of tollbooths in a car with a broken window, got lost somewhere east (south? north?) of Worcester (say it with me: WUH-ster), explored the hills and highlands of Massachusetts, and finally made it back in one piece. Something about this trip seems to beautifully sum up the state of my life at that time. Awkward, confused, lost and not quite able to handle it all.
Earlier in April, before I had met Drew, I was in the northwest shooting my final portfolio, when my dear uncle passed away after an extremely difficult battle with cancer. This was the first time I had dealt with the loss of a close family member. It left me reeling. I missed over a week of school, which was a lot at Hallmark, and ultimately returned stunned, not sure where to go next, not sure how to deal. Drew had recently lost one of his closest friends in a car accident, and was still dealing with the repercussions that such a tragedy brings.
I told him honestly that I was a cynic. I didn’t want to trust people, I didn’t want to give my heart up and trust him not to break it. I told him right from the beginning that he would have to be patient with me. Turns out patience is his greatest strength.
We did not have it together. We did not think we were ready to embark on life’s most amazing journey, but as it turns out... we had never been more prepared.
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