setback2comeback

running red lights

I had a great time in North Carolina that October weekend in 2007.  It was nice getting together with my friends and feeling like myself again.  The past several months leading up to that weekend had been a blur of anxiety and depression.  It was refreshing to put that behind me for a couple of days and find some sweet southern comfort in my home away from home.  I met a girl and she helped me to see that there was indeed going to be life beyond my ex.  And to top it all off, I was finally able to make the drive back to Pennsylvania with a UNC win under my belt…that wouldn’t happen often that season.  Like I said, it was a fabulous weekend…but I should have accepted it for simply that and moved forward with my life.

Instead I carried with me the flame that had been lit that Friday evening at the Martini Bar.  I wanted so badly at that stage in my life to meet the right girl and seek redemption for the error of my ways in my past relationships.  Although my ex had broken my heart in the most calculated and vicious manner possible, I still felt a sense of responsibility for our eventual downfall.  I knew that I had not done everything right, and I wanted a second chance.  So I took the first opportunity that presented itself, and I attempted to run with it.  I decided that I wanted to set my sights on a long distance relationship with my new acquaintance from Chapel Hill.

Blinded by passion and fueled by a need to make the next relationship work, I ignored countless red flags that would have deterred most from pursuing things further.  For instance, when I returned home, she and I spoke on the phone for a couple of days and things seemed to be proceeding well.  And then one night as I was driving to my parent’s house, she called me with the intention of ending communication with me altogether.  She was very direct, and not nice about it at all…”this is not going to work…I don’t want you to call, text, email or stop by when you are in town…are we clear on that? This is it”.  Was she serious?  Initially I thought it was a joke.  And then it hit me like a ton of bricks.  I was immediately sent back to the feeling that I had on September 12th.  As I walked into my parent’s house, I was shaking.  My Mom asked me what was wrong…and I just said “it’s happening again.”

About a week later she emailed me and apologized.  She said that she just didn’t see how we could ever make it work so she wanted to end things as quickly and cleanly as possible before either of us got too wrapped up in it emotionally.  I could understand her reasoning, but the manner in which she handled it was very questionable.  Again, another opportunity for me to let things go.  But instead I pressed on.

We continued to communicate over the phone and through email.  She was going to be visiting Philadelphia in a couple of weeks with her roommate, so we talked about possibly meeting up with each other in the city.  My friend from home had been interested in her friend, so he agreed to venture down with me to visit with them for the weekend.  I believe it was the first week in November.  Naturally, things went very well.  We enjoyed each others’ company and my buddy and I had a great time playing tour guides.

Soon after, I was planning a trip to visit her in Chapel Hill.  This time I’d drive down by myself so that she and I could spend some time together alone.  We knew we did well in group settings, but could we make it as a couple?  I took off after work on a Thursday and arrived in Chapel Hill at about 11:oo PM that night.  I booked a hotel for the weekend so not to make things awkward between her and I.  After checking in, I got changed and headed out to Franklin Street to meet up with her and her roommate.  She looked adorable that night…I remember she was wearing a white South Florida t-shirt as they were playing Rutgers on the Thursday night ESPN game.  It was good time…our introduction had exceeded my expectations.

The following day I picked her up at her office for lunch – I brought her a lily and she seemed smitten by it.  That afternoon we texted each other continually…I was hoping that she’d have the opportunity to leave early for the weekend.  And she did – she headed straight over to my hotel room and we hung out together just wasting time searching for the truth in each others’ eyes.  I’m certain that it was that afternoon that we both realized our feelings for each other.  That night we went to dinner and everything went great…it had been a picture perfect start.

And then came Saturday.  It was her roommate’s birthday and they had a big get together planned with all of their co-workers.  Everyone was going to meet on Franklin and then a limo bus would pick us all up for a night out in Raleigh.  I spent most of the afternoon on their couch hanging out and watching college football while they ran a couple of errands around town.

On Thursday night, we had met a really good guy by the bar that was taking an interest in the roommate. He and I had a great conversation, and it turned out he was from the northeast too, so our company was helping to make each other feel right at home.  The roommate was being extremely flirtatious with him that evening, and she had invited him to come with for her birthday celebration on Saturday.  So that day I encouraged her to call him and let him know where to meet everyone.  She seemed a bit nervous and shy about it for some reason, but eventually she agreed.

Back on Franklin Street that evening, I ran into him at the bar where we were all gathering prior to heading off to Raleigh.  The roommate had been completely ignoring him, and he couldn’t understand why.  He was hurting.  And he began to ask me what I thought of the situation, and why she was acting the way she was?  I didn’t know what to tell him.  To me it appeared completely childish and rude, but I couldn’t do anything about it.  I just really felt bad for him.

As the limo pulled up out front, the roommate ensured that she was ushered in with a group of people so that she could escape the view of my new friend.  And then she proceeded to have her friends tell him that he was not welcome to come along.  And not in a nice way either, there were literally people hanging out of the sunroof yelling at this poor guy.  I could see that he was breaking inside…it was extremely hurtful.  So I told my new acquaintance about it, thinking she’d be a person of character and that she would support me. I asked her to do something, and she proceeded to yell at me and tell me to “get on the bus or we’ll leave without you”.  I stood there for a few minutes and thought long and hard about it.  I should have let the bus rumble off to Raleigh without me, but instead I apologized to my northeast friend and chased after her with my tail between my legs.

For the rest of the night, she held the fact that I had stood up for him against me.  She told me that I had embarrassed her in front of her friends and that everyone was disgusted with me.  That was not the case at all, but she certainly believed it to be the truth.  But I could not handle another failed relationship.  So instead of standing up for myself, I did my best to work back into her good graces.  And by the next morning, things were fine.  She was clinging to me on Sunday, and because of that I didn’t even get on the road until about 6:00 PM.

About an hour into the drive home, I called her.  She didn’t pick up so I left her a voicemail.  It was a couple of hours until she returned the call.  She told me that she had just been napping on the couch and didn’t hear her phone ring.  But she was very short with me.  It wasn’t the same person that had been snuggling close to me that afternoon…it was like Jekyll and Hyde.  She ended the conversation quickly and told me that she’d call me later, leaving me feeling very confused and uneasy for the remainder of the trip.  And then eventually she called and dropped it on me again…”this is not going to work I’m sorry”.

I’m a pretty resilient guy, but I was not equipped to deal with this level of heartache this soon.  I had just been through an extremely painful breakup with my fiance, and she knew that.  Why was she treating me this way?  Just as soon as I’d feel good about things again, she’d tear the happiness from my grasp.

The more important question I should have been asking myself was why should I feel the need to hang onto something so destructive?  She had now provided me multiple opportunities to slam on the brakes and head the opposite direction.  But I couldn’t.  I didn’t want to fail again.  So I held on tight and waited for her apology so that we could move forward and pursue a future together.  I didn’t want to be alone, and I didn’t want to let anyone down or see them walk out on me again.

The events of my past were holding me hostage, and they were directing me down a road destined to lead to further painful experiences…

new face in a familiar place

It’s 3rd down and 15.  We’ve spent the first two downs of the possession losing yardage trying force our will against the defense.  We’re a running team, but our opponent has scouted us well over the past two seasons and has learned all of our tendencies.  Their linebackers are filling the gaps in anxious anticipation prior to the ball even being snapped.  Now we’ve again found ourselves in a predictable passing situation.  Since we employ only the Wing T, I’ll need to prepare to take the snap under center and execute one of a handful of plays that we have designed for this situation.  I look to the sideline and take the play call.  My coach finds my eyes and says “C’mon Matty – make something happen!”  This is a phrase I’ve heard him shout many times.  There was always desperation in his voice.  It was as if he knew that we were heading for failure, but he thought that perhaps my ability would somehow direct us to an emergency reprieve.  I head to the huddle and make the call, pleading “just give me some time guys”.  But I know the defense will be coming for me.  Our offense forces play action, but no one bites.  Linebackers storm through the middle and the defensive end zeroes in on me.  I’m running for my life.  It’s time to be a leader.  You’re down and now you’re facing insurmountable odds…stay in the collapsing pocket, cover the ball, take the sack and limit the damage…nope.  That’s not a part of my make up.  Scramble Matt, outrun that linebacker, shake the end, keep your eyes downfield, find a receiver, square your shoulders, deliver a strike…it’s time to “make something happen Matty”…

I’ve often related obstacles that I’ve faced in my personal life to experiences that I’ve had on the football field.  I had a passion for the game that I only wish I could have carried through to other aspects of my life.  My determination was completely unwavering.  I could get kicked in the teeth all game long, but I’d always get back up to play the next down.  I would leave it all on the field.  Setbacks did not discourage me.  And I faced them more often in the game that I loved than I did in other aspects of my life.  It didn’t matter.  I wanted more.  And I think the reason I felt that way is because I took so much pride in overcoming adversity.  There was nothing better than converting a 3rd and 15 into a fresh set of downs.  Now it was time for me to take that ‘won’t break’ mentality and apply it to my life.

I had been a complete emotional mess as a result of the departure of my fiance.  It was such a long and drawn out breakup…it had consumed me for months.  I had to learn to live alone in the house that we had purchased, furnished, and decorated together, and I had to make peace with the fact that she would never offer any explanation for her actions.  Thank the good Lord for my family, friends, and co-workers.  They stuck by me through everything, allowing me to vent when I needed, always offering a shoulder to cry on when it became too much for me to handle.  I’m sure I wore thin on them at times.  But I’ll never forget their support.  I hope that they understand just how critical they were to my survival during that time.

By early October 2007, the college football season was in full swing.  The timing could not have been better…I could at least find refuge in the game that I enjoyed so much.  My Tar Heels were off to a sluggish start.  It was our first year under Butch Davis and we had begun the season 1-4.  On October 6th we were set to match up with Miami in Chapel Hill.  My father was not interested in heading down that weekend, so I planned a bit of a guy’s getaway with my two best friends from high school.  My one buddy would make the drive with me from PA, and my other friend who was living in South Carolina would meet us there on Friday afternoon.  It was a much needed escape for me, and I was really looking forward to it.

On Friday night we went out to dinner and then headed over to Franklin Street to party like a bunch of college kids for the evening.  We ended up at East End Martini Bar.  If you’ve been following the blog, you’ll remember that this was the place where I first met my now ex-fiance for drinks during my senior year of college.  That night my friend had taken interest in a girl by the bar who was there with several friends, so I told him that I’d go get the conversation started for us.  I was pretty bold that weekend…I had nothing to lose, it couldn’t get any worse for me in the ladies’ department.  She seemed happy to talk, so shortly after I invited my friends over and hers as well…we’d all do a shot together.

Minutes later I was introduced to a girl that I had noticed sitting at a table by the window when we first entered the bar.  She was attractive and flirtatious, and I found her very intriguing.  I learned in talking to her that she was my age and was working for a company based in Chapel Hill.  She had graduated from, oddly enough, the University of South Florida in 2005.  That was the school that my ex had attended prior to her transfer to Chapel Hill.  And she was also originally from Florida, the Atlantic coast side, however.  This was all insanely ironic.  I couldn’t help but feel like maybe it was all supposed to be happening.  Perhaps this was redemption?

We spent the rest of the evening completely lost in one another.  Upstairs we danced and held onto each other as if we had been dating for months.  It was a great time.  And for me, it felt particularly good because I had been down for so long dealing with my broken engagement.  For a few hours I was able to feel like my old self again…to enjoy living and experience feelings of attraction and desire, things that I had thought I might never find with anyone again.  I didn’t want the night to end.  So we exchanged phone numbers and talked about getting together on Saturday night after the game.

My friends had an equally fun time that evening.  Unfortunately, we all paid for it the next morning.  We were actually so hungover that we contemplated skipping the game altogether…and trust me, I NEVER do that.  But eventually we gathered ourselves and found our way to Kenan Stadium for kickoff.  And I’m so thankful that we did…because it was the best game that we’d play that entire season.  We hammered Miami on both sides of the ball for the entire first half, and in the second we withstood their comeback rally to hold on for a 33-27 victory…an amazing and completely unexpected performance.

I called my new acquaintance that afternoon to see what her plans were for the evening but she didn’t answer her phone.  Maybe she was going to blow it off altogether?  The boys and I  headed back to the hotel room after grabbing a quick bite to relax, catch up on some games, and get ready for that night.  A couple of hours into our mutual slumber, she called.  It was decided that later that evening we’d meet up at the same place as the night before.  I wasn’t going to drink that evening, honestly even looking at an alcoholic drink made me weak in the stomach.  I had enough fun for the entire weekend the night before.  So I maintained a pretty laid back and quiet demeanor, which she must have appreciated because she ended up inviting me back to her apartment after the bars closed.

It was already 2:00 AM.  We had a long drive facing us the next day.  But I was running on adrenaline, so I dropped off the guys and headed back to meet up with her.  She invited me into her apartment and we spent the next three or four hours laying on her bed talking to and kissing each other.  I didn’t want it to be a one night stand, so I never allowed things to progress that far.  I liked her and I wanted to get to know her better.  I was just enjoying being around someone new.  And I had anxiously been hoping to meet the right person to fill the void in my heart…perhaps she could be it?  I wasn’t thinking about the logistics of everything…I was just riding the high that weekend.

I finally returned to the hotel around 6:00 AM.  After a couple of hours of sleep we got up, said goodbye to our South Carolina buddy, and then made the trip home.  I was so excited about my new acquaintance that I didn’t need much rest to function.

As we headed up I-85 North out of North Carolina, my friend looked at me and said, “Matt, I told you last night that you needed to be able to leave that here…if you couldn’t do that, then you should not have gone any further with things…”

finding closure

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

The day of my fiance’s final departure left me feeling completely lost and hopeless.  I remember entering the front door and noticing things missing, and then immediately running upstairs in a panic to find that everything of hers was gone.  The pain I felt inside was indescribable.  I called my Mom and Dad just minutes later, and I could barely put the words together to tell them what had happened.  They were completely shocked as well.  How could she have made it into town, from Florida nonetheless, and cleared everything out in a matter of a couple of hours leaving virtually no signs of being there at all?  That’s a question that we all still ponder to this day.  She must have devised quite the covert operation.

It took me a long time to calm myself that day.  Losing her was one thing, but losing her with so many questions remaining and zero closure was another.  It was all so puzzling and shocking.  I searched for answers in my friends and family, but everyone else was just as confused and at a loss for words as I was.  This was going to be something that I’d be forced to surrender to…I wasn’t ever going to understand her reasoning or her motives.  And that was a tough pillow to swallow.  I had fought many tough battles internally, but this one would require a different strategy.  I would need to learn to let go and accept that some things in this world are out of your control.

Nevertheless, from time to time I couldn’t help but attempt to piece together the truth.  I came to the conclusion that her plan to take “Family Medical Leave” had all been orchestrated in an effort to create an excuse to escape to Florida.  Her father did indeed have back surgery, but I remember from speaking to her on the phone that he was out riding his motorcycle in less than a week’s time.  And I’m pretty confident that her last day on the job at the hospital came prior to her departure.  I was able to draw that conclusion with the knowledge that her position had been posted for quite some time prior to her telling me that she quit.  And in addition, I remembered her coming home on her last day of work with a “Goodbye” or “Good Luck” card from one of her patients.  She told me that the woman had given it to her because by the time she returned she would have been done with the treatments in her unit.  But in reality, it was likely given to her as a final farewell.  She had also continually mentioned that she needed to speak to her father’s doctor for information on his surgery so that she could submit some paperwork for her leave, and I never saw her with any of that either.  Again, I’m not denying the fact that her father had the operation, but I don’t believe that it was nearly as severe as she made it out to be, and I believe that she had resigned from her job prior to July 7th.

This means that the entire thing had been in the works for months.  I can’t tell you how sick that makes me feel, even here today as I write this entry.  How could you do that to someone?  I wouldn’t wish that kind of treatment on my worst enemy, let alone the person that I loved and was engaged to marry.  I felt that I deserved much better from that standpoint.  I recognize that I didn’t do everything right in the relationship and that I also played a part in our eventual demise…trust me, I am not a man without faults.  But I truly believed that she cared for me far more as a person than she ultimately demonstrated.  To deceive me in the manner in which she did showed a complete lack of class and character.  I just wish that she would have taken the time to look me in the eyes and say goodbye the right way…to my face.  As much as that would have hurt, I could have respected her for it in the long run.  But instead she cowardly avoided dealing with every aspect of emotion associated with the situation.  She had effectively maintained her distance and separation from me since the moment she hugged me, kissed me, and told me she loved me that day at the airport.

In the end, I would learn to survive without her.  It was initially very hard for me to envision my life without her in it, but I had been preparing for that and adjusting to it for two months prior to her driving the final nail in the coffin.  None of the speculation from above really mattered.  Even if I was able to uncover all of the answers to the questions that I pondered, it still was not going to bring her back or give me peace.  I needed to find my own strength and create my own closure.

One positive about breakups is that you are given the opportunity to learn from your mistakes.  I did that by taking a look at myself and my actions during the course of our time together.  I realized some things quickly…for instance, I was ready to be a married man and a more fully devoted partner, and I knew that I wanted to be more flexible and open-minded with my significant other in the future.  With my next love, I would put less emphasis on my needs and give a stronger consideration to theirs, and I’d do my best not to allow my own personal issues interfere with our relationship.  Those considerations were quite easily made.

But I’ve chosen to use this blog as an opportunity for me to fully disclose my shortcomings and apologize and take responsibility for them…so that’s exactly what I intend on doing now.  I can’t say that I was this honest with myself back then…I wish I had been.

My anxiety was a factor…I’m sure of that.  Although it was never really brought to my attention as being an issue in our relationship, I can tell you that at times it was very destructive.  In many instances, the presence of a disorder like this can bring two people closer together.  You become far more reliant on your partner, and given the right person with a strong, caring demeanor present, it can really create a level on intimacy that most relationships never achieve.  Unfortunately, it can also have the opposite effect.  It can create distance and tension when the afflicted feels that their needs are being ignored or not being fulfilled to their expectations.  And anxiety creates unrealistic expectations at times, leading to inescapable doom.  I’m certain that there were instances when it caused conflict between us.  I should have been more aware of that and toned it back at times.  She was not my caretaker, she was my partner and she deserved to be treated that way.

Coupled with anxiety is often a sense of wanting to control the environment around you.  In the midst of an attack, everything spins wildly out of your grasp.  You want nothing more than to be able to get a hold on the situation and limit any factors that are contributing to the way you feel.  In relationships, I think it’s easier for people like me to find themselves wanting more control.  I can see now how this need negatively impacted our time together.  For instance, I asked her to postpone the wedding planning because we had too much going on (control)…I’d discourage her from buying things for the house or starting new projects because of my financial worries (control)…and I’d be very non-receptive about visiting her family and friends in Florida because I didn’t want them steering her away from our new life together (control).  I’m very sorry that I allowed that to become a dimension of my personality, because it is certainly not the type of person I ever envisioned myself being or becoming.

And finally, my irresponsible gambling habits were undoubtedly a problem our relationship.  My fiance and I were not at a place where we were sharing a bank account, but we were sharing in our bill responsibilities and in our personal expenses.  My propensity for wagering online was not hurting her pocket book, but it was most certainly corrupting the good man that she deserved.  In the midst of one of my runs, I’d be short, edgy, and easily distracted.  I wasn’t concerned with our life together at all…I was only concerned with money and the next big win.  I’d detach from intimacy.  And when I’d lose, I’d tighten up my wallet and convince her to do the same.  Gambling could spark my insecurities like nothing else, and I’d often find myself acting far more anxious and controlling in the relationship.  It was an awful habit, on so many different levels.  I’m truly regretful for its impact on us.

To my ex…if you’re out there and you happen to be following along, I’d like to tell you first that I am sorry for my reckless neglect of our relationship at times.  I acknowledge that I played a part in our downfall as well…I will never deny that.  I remember one day you told me “you can’t change who you are, Matt – it’s just your personality”.  I’m here to tell you now that I can and I am.

And secondly, I’d like to wish you peace and happiness in your life.  You stole my heart like no other.  I found amazing things in you and in spite of our eventual troubles, we still had two plus really great years together…some of the best times of my life.  I don’t agree with the way that you decided to end things between us – that was not characteristic of you as a person.  But I forgive you for that.  I know that you’ve found love and have since taken another man’s hand in marriage.  I hope that you and your husband create a remarkable longstanding bond with one another.  God Bless.

broken and betrayed

For several months leading up to my fiance’s visit to Florida, I felt a growing distance between us as couple.  There were very good reasons for that, many of which I touched upon in my last post.  Every time that it appeared we were able to overcome one dramatic turn of events, another seemed to be waiting just around the corner.  I was having an incredibly difficult time keeping up with her ever-changing moods and emotions and it was wearing me out.  I became quickly accustomed to remaining watchful and on edge at all times, because I never could quite tell when the next irrational reaction would occur.  It was particularly devastating at times when things had remained positive for several days and then unexpectedly in the blink of an eye I’d witness them turn in the complete opposite direction.  I wanted so desperately to save our relationship.  I couldn’t allow myself to lose her.  I needed to find a way to keep us on track.  And I felt that little by little we had been making some progress.  Then she took her leave, and everything spun completely out of control

When she arrived in Florida, she made it very clear to me that she would be quite busy most days taking care of her father.  Of course I understood that, but I was still certainly hopeful that we’d have the opportunity to talk regularly and continue to work on our relationship.  But it didn’t seem as if this was a priority to her at all anymore.  She was cold and short with me when we did speak, and she made me feel as though my calls were irritating and bothersome.  And then, probably a little over a week into her trip, she told me that she really wasn’t sure if she wanted to be in a relationship with me at all anymore, and that she needed time to think.  She asked that we take some time not speaking to one another so that she could clear her head, providing me with no real idea about how long it would take her to sort through things.  I was completely heartbroken.  My relationship had been in limbo for months and now, just as I felt things were progressing in the right direction, my fiance ran 1,500 miles away to tell me that she needed space and time to think.  There was nothing I could do.  I didn’t have the ability to sit her down in front of me, look her in the eyes and have a heart to heart so that I could get a gauge on her true feelings.  No, I just had to sit and wait.

It wasn’t long until I discovered that what I was waiting for was for her to be able to create enough separation and gain enough strength and support back home to say goodbye to me.  And after two weeks of some of the most stressful and panicked days of my life, she made the call to me and did just that.  I’ll never forget how cold she was that day.  It wasn’t a person that I recognized at all.  There was zero compassion in her voice…it was strictly business…take care of this and move on.  I begged and pleaded with her, but nothing was going to change her mind.  This was it.  She had made her decision.

I had a lot of logical questions that I wanted answered…what are you going to do about your job?  Have you put in your resignation?  What about the house and your commitment to our mortgage?  Are you just going to leave this for me to figure out?  When are you going to return to get your things?  It was all so incredibly painful.  She had walked out and left me with all of our belongings, our memories…it was brutal being in that house.  A simple glance around the room could send me bursting into tears.  And I had no idea what her plans were, so I was left to make my own assumptions on a lot of things.  Because I believed so I much in fate, I allowed myself to hold continue to hold onto hope.  And my assumptions centered around my faith in our relationship’s resurrection.

My fiance had told me that she had not yet quit her job, and that she would decide soon how she wanted to handle that issue.  So naturally I made myself believe that if she hadn’t resigned, perhaps she was still questioning her decision.  I told myself that until she quit, there was still a high likelihood that she was not completely forfeiting her life in Pennsylvania.  Plus, I knew that eventually she needed to come home to get her things and that at that time we’d have the chance to talk.  She even mentioned to me in conversations that she’d likely return alone to pack for several days prior to making a move.  If all else failed, at least I’d have that one last shot to attempt to mend things.

She wasn’t going to allow me the opportunity to work on things over the phone.  Most times when we spoke to one another, she carried the same temperament that she had the day she told me we were through.  But then at times I’d catch her in a moment of weakness, and she’d stumble a bit and share her real emotion.  On one afternoon in particular, she broke down and told me that she loved me and missed me, and that “she had “lost 10-15 pounds” since she had come home because she was so sick over the situation that she couldn’t eat or keep the food down.  Another night we had a great conversation, and by the end of it she had decided that she wanted to work on things…she told me she loved me as she said goodbye, and we made plans to speak the next day.  Of course, the next day she was a no show.  And shortly after she retracted all of those comments.  Things were unfolding just as they had in Pennsylvania.  We’d make some headway amidst heartfelt conversation and undeniable emotion, and then she’d slam the door shut on it.

I can’t tell you how often I sat by the phone waiting and hoping that she’d call me and tell me that it had all been a big mistake and that she wanted to come home.  I prayed for that every day, over and over again.  My OCD would not allow my panic over the situation to go to rest, and I became completely distracted by it.  The only way that I could really find any peace was to escape with my Dad to our cabin in the mountains for several days.  There I had no access to my cell phone or email – I didn’t have the ability to check whether or not she had attempted to contact me.  Good thing too..because whenever we’d get into range of reception, I’d quickly see that there were no missed calls, no voicemails… and it hurt more and more every time.

As summer went on however, she and I did have the opportunity to speak a few more times, but most of those conversations led only to more heartache.  She eventually told me that she had resigned from her job.  She made it sound as though she had just spoken to her boss recently, but later on I did research on the internet and found that her position had been posted for quite some time on the hospital’s website…she had just kept it all hidden from me.  Then there were discussions about the house and how we’d handle it.  She expected me to cave and sell, certainly thinking that she’d be able to collect half of the assets.  But I wasn’t sure that I wanted to sell, and I definitely didn’t want to make things easy and convenient for her, so I fought for the home.  I was ultimately able to qualify for my own mortgage, and with her agreement I moved forward and removed her name from the deed.  It was a painful and costly process, but I did it.  And it felt good.  I was even able to recover my engagement ring.  At least she hadn’t been able to take everything from me.

The one true question that remained was when was she going to come and get things?  She had been avoiding it for quite some time and when I’d ask about it she’d just give me a vague answer…”well I’m not sure because I need he/she to help, so maybe in two weeks”.  Her car remained parked out in front our home, there were boxes upon boxes of her personal belongings in our basement, and everything in our living space that was hers remained untouched, including two closets full of clothing.  At this point, I wasn’t extremely confident that we’d be able to work things out upon her return.  But I did look forward to the opportunity to look her in the eyes and see her honest emotion.  I missed her badly, and I just wanted to see her, even on the worst of terms.  I truly felt that it might take her meeting with me in person for things to “click”.  Maybe then she’d realize what she was losing and would decide to make an effort to salvage what remained of a once beautiful partnership…

September 12th, 2007 – it had been over two months since she left for Florida.  It was an overcast and rainy morning as I headed off to work at RTC Direct just miles away from our home.  At just after 11:00 AM, I received a call on my cell phone from my now ex-fiance.  I wasn’t able to answer in time, so moments later I stepped outside of our building to listen to her voicemail.  “Hey Matt just wanted to let you know that I stopped by the house to pick up my things.  Let me know if you need anything, thanks.”  I couldn’t believe it.  Was she really in Pennsylvania?  I left work immediately, racing home as my heart pounded in my chest, hoping that I’d catch her before she left…but it was too late.  All that remained was a house stripped of all of her belongings.

I had never felt so empty and betrayed before in my life.  She was gone…and this time it was forever.

tempting fate

Anxiety and panic had knocked me to knees before, but I’m not sure that anything had prepared me for the emotional and psychological roller coaster that I would find myself on for the next couple months of my life.  My fiance had just delivered a devastating, unexpected blow to our relationship.  I can honestly say that I never saw it coming.  As I mentioned in my previous post, there were some signs of separation, depression, etc but they never felt as serious as this.  I always believed 100% in her and I – NEVER, not once did I allow myself to imagine that we weren’t perfect for each other.  The events of the previous two and a half years had convinced me beyond all doubt that we were meant to be.  And now she had decided to test fate.

My initial reaction was complete shock.  I can’t fully explain the feelings that took over me that morning.  I didn’t know how to begin to speak to her about it.  It didn’t feel as though she was simply testing the waters, it appeared as though she had already come to grips with her new found priorities.  I didn’t feel like I’d be able to reason with her or change her mind in that moment, so I left.  I drove to my parents’ house and had a long conversation with them.  I don’t really even recall what was said, I just know that everyone was completely taken by surprise.  I sat outside their house with my Dad for a long time trying to figure out how I would deal with returning home and confronting the situation.  I felt myself shaking from the inside out.  I was hurt, very badly.  How could this be happening?

I remember returning to our house that evening.  My fiance was laying on the couch in the dark watching TV.  I couldn’t bring myself to speak to her, so I walked right past the living room and headed upstairs without saying a word.  I sat down in our one spare bedroom which for the time being had been converted into a den, and I covered my face and thought about my next conversation with her.  After about five or ten minutes, my fiance appeared in the doorway.  She asked me to give her a hug.  And then she began crying hysterically.  I remember her body shaking as I held her close, and she kept repeating one thing…”I’m so sorry, I don’t know what I was thinking!”.  She kissed me all over my neck, head, and face and reassured me that she had just been speaking foolishly and that she loved me very much and didn’t ever want to lose me.

This was the realest, truest emotion that I had ever seen out of her in the entire time that I knew her.  She had been a pretty reserved person from that standpoint in our relationship.  Don’t get me wrong, she could be very sweet and caring, but addressing her innermost feelings hadn’t ever been her strong suit.  I always felt like she bottled a lot of it up inside.  And now she was showing me a completely vulnerable side of her that I had never reached.  It was real…it was beautiful.  How could I not forgive her?  There was no doubting her sincerity in that moment.  I could feel the love pouring out of her heart.  Later that evening as we made up, she made a comment to me that haunts me to this day…she said “let’s have a baby, it will fix things…”  I remember telling her in that moment that we had a lot of other things to work on before we could consider bringing a baby into our world.  I felt so confused…how could she want to leave me that morning, and then have a baby with me that night?  She was probably just overwhelmed with emotion.  I decided not to read too far into it and instead just simply enjoy the comfort and security of our closeness that night.

The next day I came home from work and as I pulled into the driveway, I noticed something at my car that I wanted to take a closer look at.  I sat outside doing a couple of things for about ten minutes or so before entering the house.  My fiance was already inside, and she must not have realized that I had pulled in or walked through the door.  She was upstairs having a conversation with one of her hometown friends on the phone.  I quickly realized that she was discussing me and our situation from the previous night, and she wasn’t relaying the details in the apologetic manner which she had to me when I had returned that emotional evening.  No, this was a far different person.  I stood at the edge of the stairs and listened quietly for a minute or two…”he didn’t even say hi when he came in last night”….”well I’d have to at least put in my two weeks”….”I can’t just leave”.

I was shocked and more hurt than I had been the day before.  Who was this person posing as the love of my life?  How could she lure me in to accepting her apology the previous night and then viciously bash me and plan her escape the very next day?  I walked up the stairs to confront her and completely startled her.  I quietly whispered to her to please hang up the phone.  We needed to talk.  Of course, she lied to me and denied that she had said anything in the manner in which I had heard it.  I was “crazy”.  And why was I listening to her conversation anyway!?  She instantly flipped the situation around and made me the bad guy.  I couldn’t help but begin questioning everything.  It seemed so real less than 24 hours earlier…how could I have imagined that?  I had felt it in my heart.

During that Spring, my fiance’s father was scheduled to have a supposed major surgery on his back.  He was divorced from her mother and lived alone in Florida and really didn’t have anyone to look after him during his recovery.  So my fiance mentioned to me that she might want to use her Family Medical Leave to go down and spend time with him for about six weeks until he was back on his feet.  She asked if I would support her taking time away…and although it was a very difficult time for her to be gone with the current state of our relationship, I of course said “yes” that I would.  So it was settled, in early July she would leave for Florida.

In the weeks prior to her departure things continued to be completely puzzling and unpredictable for me.  For several days our relationship would feel great and back to normal, and then she’d seemingly make a conscious effort to disengage.  She’d begin hiding out and avoiding emotional attachment.  And then it would cycle back through again.

I remember one Saturday afternoon she mentioned to me that she was going to stop at Barnes and Noble and just spend some time by herself reading and relaxing.  And when she arrived back at home that day, she couldn’t wait to sit me down and talk to me.  It was as though she had just stumbled upon the meaning of life.  She proceeded to hand me several pages of a rant about our relationship and her new priorities in life.  She mentioned several times in it that I was great guy and that I deserved better.  Every sentence contradicted the previous.  It was completely incoherent.  It frightened me, and it angered and upset me as well.  And she seemed so sure of it – as if it was all completely logical.  She could not for one second begin to understand my reaction.  Again at a loss for words, I walked upstairs, put on some shorts, and proceeded to take a long jog across town.  When I arrived back at the house, I laid down on my back in the grass in the front yard.  About five minutes later, she appeared at the edge of the garage.  She came over and picked me up and we went inside and talked through it, and within a day or two we appeared to be back on the right track.

Summer was in full swing.  My fiance would be leaving for Florida on July 7th, so the weekend of the 4th was going to be our last opportunity to spend time with each other for about six weeks.  My friend and coworker was having a picnic, and he invited us to attend.  I was excited for it, and she made a great dish to take with and share with everyone.  It felt like we were getting back to normal, just in time for her departure.  During the early part of that day, I remember thinking that she seemed uncharacteristically quiet with everyone, but as the afternoon turned into evening, she became the girl that I had fallen in love with…she was sweet, conversational, and more than anything a lot of fun to be around.  We had a blast that night.  And she made a real connection with my co-worker’s wife.  I was excited about having the opportunity to spend more time with them in the future.  We left their house at about 1:00 AM.  And when we returned home, her mood immediately changed.  She ran to bed before I had the opportunity to even change, and pulled the covers over her face, exclaiming that she was just exhausted.  It felt to me as if she was doing her best to surrender the positive feelings that had come over her that night.  Watching her forfeit happiness was both sad and disappointing.

As we drove to the Philadelphia airport, I still felt quite a bit of uncertainty about our relationship, but overall I had concluded that things had been moving in the right direction.  We had been making a lot of progress, and I was just wishing that we didn’t now need to say goodbye for six weeks.  I wanted to ensure that we continued to build off the momentum that we had been developing in recent days.  But I told myself  that I’d have her back before I knew it, and that perhaps the time apart would be good for both of us.  The last few months had been extremely draining emotionally…this would give us a chance to recharge the batteries.

I remember standing with her outside of the security gate that day.  I hugged her for a long time and I told her that I’d miss her while she was gone.  Then I kissed her and said goodbye.  I watched her walk towards the terminal with my engagement ring glistening on her finger…

I never would have imagined that day being the last opportunity that I’d ever have to hold her in my arms…

the rise and the fall

By the Spring of 2006, my fiance and I had found ourselves in a very exciting period of transition in our lives.  We were taking some major steps together and we were laying the foundation for our future.  Soon after accepting new offers for employment, we began looking into living options in Berks County, PA.  My parents had made me aware that my grandfather had left both my sister and I with down payment money for our first homes at the time of his passing.  This was an incredible blessing.  My grandfather was never a man of financial wealth..but in life, he held far more riches than most.  He worked hard for everything he had built with God and family close to his heart.  He was always kind and always positive.  And his generosity provided me the opportunity to take the next step in my future with the love of my life.

The cost of living in Berks County was far less than that of Philadelphia and the areas located just outside the city.  Buying a home seemed like a stretch initially, but the more that we investigated our options, the better we felt about our chances.  So we hooked up with a realtor who was a family friend, and we began our search.  One day while having lunch at Liberty Place downtown I received a call from my Dad.  He explained that our realtor had a property that he wanted to show to us, but that he thought we needed to move quickly as there had been quite a bit of interest in the place.  So that evening my fiance and I made the visit after work, and we fell in love with the house immediately.  They always say that if it’s the right house, you’ll know…it will speak to you.  And that was exactly what happened that evening.  It was by far the best fit that we had seen within our price range and it had everything that we were looking for in our first home.  We began developing our offer immediately.

I was alerted early the next morning that our realtor had discovered that the property already had two other offers on it.  After a bit of persuasion, the listing agent agreed to give us until that afternoon to produce and submit our offer to the sellers for final consideration.  We rushed to get our offer in, and with some additional financial backing and support from my father, we made our bid.  Our offer was $2,500 over the asking price, and included other incentives for the seller as well.  We had a one in three shot of getting the house, and we sat in our apartment eagerly awaiting their decision with our fingers crossed.

A few hours later we received the call – the sellers had chosen to accept our offer!  We had just secured our first home.  It felt amazing.  We eventually qualified for our mortgage (which I should mention was no easy task for two 23 year old home buyers with limited credit history) and about a month later we made settlement.  The very first evening we went to the house and began stripping wallpaper.  We couldn’t wait to dive into our new project.  For the next several weekends we’d make the drive to Shoemakersville and work non-stop on our new home – mainly doing a ton of painting and cleaning.  It felt so rewarding to see the finished product of your hard work coming together.  It was really special.  I had never felt closer to her before in my life.

Commuting back and forth from the apartment to the house was becoming exhausting.  We were anxious to move in and start our new lives.  Our lease agreement at the apartment in Philadelphia was fulfilled by May and shortly after we were off on our way.  My company allowed me to use their delivery van so we didn’t even need a UHaul.  Not to imply that it was an easy move by any means…transporting everything from a 10th floor city apartment by winding through the tight halls of our complex to a back loading dock was no small task, but we made it work.  Nothing could discourage us at that point.

Our house was great and we loved it.  My fiance was constantly taking pictures to show off to her friends and family…she was so proud of our investment.  And her brain was bubbling with new ideas…we were continually adding to our furniture and fixtures, making it feel more like “home”.  She was really good at that.  Looking back at it, I should have been more supportive of some of her efforts.  I allowed myself to feel overwhelmed at times, particularly financially, and I’d ask her to slow down or I’d discourage her ideas.  That wasn’t fair of me.

In fact, far too often I allowed my  financial concerns to get the best of me.  Again, this was a result of my anxiety and OCD.  I didn’t like being “in the hole”, and I’d often become completely fixated on debt.  It all really started when I purchased her engagement ring.  I didn’t have the cash at the time to fund it so I put it on a credit card.  I could afford to make regular payments, but that wasn’t good enough for me.  I began to stress constantly over the balance.  I wanted a quick fix – how I could I make it go away immediately?

During my senior year of college I had wagered on sports, primarily college football.  I started with about $200 and I used it over the course of the season to win a couple thousand.  Unfortunately however, I never saw that money because with winning came greed.  My bets grew larger and less well planned as my bank account grew and ultimately I lost my earnings.  The house always wins – lesson learned.

But now with a large debt weighing heavy on my mind, perhaps I’d try it again as a means to get a little further ahead?  I’d bet small and anything that I was able to earn I would add on to my monthly ring payment.  Seemed like a good idea at the time…but in reality it was the worst thing I could have ever done.  Never use gambling as a means for paying off debt – you’ll only fall deeper into the hole.

I began wagering on the internet which meant I was using credit cards to fund my account or that I was doing transfers electronically through my checking account – neither was a good idea.  I developed an addiction, and it became very hard for me to walk away.  If I won, it was never enough, and I’d let it ride until I lost it all.  If I lost, I was convinced I could win it back, and often times I would, but it was rare that I cashed out, so the book always won.    Worst of all, I was no longer just betting on sports…I had begun wagering in the sites’ electronic casinos where the stakes for winning and losing were far greater.  My anxiety and OCD were fueling a powerful addiction.  I could not have chosen a more detrimental, self-abusive hobby.

The reason that I mention this here is because I’m certain that it played a factor in my relationship. I didn’t do it all of the time, it was cyclical/seasonal.  But when I was wrapped up in it, it was all consuming.  Instead of just going to bed with my fiance, certain evenings I’d find myself glued to the computer screen trying accumulate winnings, playing blackjack or analyzing my picks for the next day.  It created a separation between us.  And I’m very, very regretful for that.

In addition, it led to more panic and anxiety related issues.  On nights that I gambled, win or lose, I’d often wake up with nightmares or panic attacks.  Of course this led to inadequate sleep and then as a result further physical setbacks, stronger anxiety, and general irritability.  I didn’t want to admit that it was causing a problem in my life, so I’d place the blame elsewhere.  I’d make a big deal out of my fiance spending $100 on groceries a day after I spent $300 wagering.  The way I acted was shameful.  I began watching every penny…except for those that were involved with supporting my addiction…somehow I made peace with that?  I’m absolutely certain that it wore on my fiance.  Even though it never affected our bill payments or most of the things that we choose to do, she had to have sensed its effects on my well being.  By opening up my insecurities and creating negative thoughts and apprehension, it made me a controlling partner….an image that fills me with disgust today.

When we first got engaged, my fiance was anxious to begin wedding planning immediately.  She went to Barnes and Noble and bought every magazine that you could think of in search of ideas.  Colors, arrangements, place settings, locations…it all seemed a bit over the top to me.  And then we bought our house and began its renovation.  There was so much happening all at once that I felt we needed to take a step back.  I convinced her to hold off on the wedding plans until we were able to get fully settled.  Eventually she agreed that it was best, but I know that I probably completely robbed the wind of her sails when we had that conversation.  I was selfish, and I was diminishing the value of her dream for a perfect wedding.  My anxiety and insecurities were again creating separation.  If only I had recognized it then.

Now, I’ve just painted a very negative picture of our relationship with each other in our new home, but really that wasn’t the case the majority of the time.  For a long time we still really enjoyed each others’ company and we were very much in love.  It was nice having the house and inviting people over for get-togethers.  She and I were both doing well in our new jobs and we were enjoying the more relaxed setting that we had achieved.  We remained active and often times we’d spend the evenings working out together.  We kept the fire burning from a romance standpoint and we still took random, spontaneous vacations to keep things interesting.  For Christmas one year I planned a trip to California for the two of us.  When my fiance unwrapped the gift and saw how much time and effort I put into the presentation of it all, she could not stop crying.  It was very special for me to see her react that way.

But over time I sensed that she was distancing herself from me.  She was living far away from her family on the Gulf Coast of Florida and that was beginning to wear on her.  She had an older sister who had both a young son and daughter, and it was hard for my fiance to miss out on birthdays and special events.  She was given and felt a lot of pressure to visit regularly.  It wasn’t fair to her, and it frustrated me.  But I didn’t understand it as well as I should have likely because I was fortunate to have my family only five minutes away.

In the months that followed it also appeared to me that she was looking for an escape from reality.  The theory of separation anxiety worked in one regard, but in another it made no sense at all.  Because when we visited California that winter, she said to me “why don’t we move out here?”….and she was completely serious.  A move to California would be as far as she could go to distance herself from her family and her known surroundings.

I began to feel very confused about her state of mind.  She started withdrawing from interaction and intimate connection with me.  At night she’d head to bed at around 8:00 or 8:30 certain evenings.  She’d crawl under the covers and put on a boxed set TV series and hide out alone.  It was bizarre.  I thought that she was likely beginning to suffer from depression.

And then one day we woke up, and she dropped the bomb on me.  Out of nowhere she said that she didn’t know if she wanted a house anymore, she wasn’t sure she wanted to be married, and she missed the beach and the sun and all of the things that were characteristic of the life of a Floridian.  She said it as though it was the most well thought out determination she had ever put together in her mind.  It wasn’t as if she was worried about how it would affect me at all – she acted as though it was completely rational thinking, and that I would most certainly understand her position.

My heart dropped.  I literally fell to my knees.  I’ll never forget that day, or those that would follow…

growing up fast

It felt good being engaged.  I had learned from the mistakes of my past and as a result I had a very clear vision of what I wanted in the future.  I allowed myself the time and patience to find my soul mate, and things just fell into place.  It seemed like fate.  Perhaps this was why things didn’t work out with my California sweetheart?  Maybe I was supposed to fail at that relationship so that I’d be better prepared for the most meaningful one of all?  And how could you discredit the fact that I had patiently waited for a year a half to find the opportunity to talk to that striking girl from orientation?  The chances of the two us ending up where we had seemed completely improbable.  It was just meant to be.

My fiance and I were living in a single bedroom apartment on the 10th floor of a high rise complex known as Alden Park, located just outside of Center City next to Philadelphia University.  It was an older building, but the space we had rented was very livable.  We had about 900 square feet and a view of the skyline from our living room window.  For two recent college graduates, it was quite nice.  The grounds of the complex were very well maintained.  It was always landscaped nicely and the property was extremely secure.  It was a good start for us.

As with most first jobs, neither one of us was overpaid.  And our living expenses were fairly significant being that we were so close to the city, so things were relatively tight from a financial standpoint.  I was working in sales with a base salary plus commission structure, and it was taking time for me to get a feel for the position and begin signing accounts.  The base was really nothing more than a survival income, so until things picked up, I wouldn’t have a lot of extra cash.  And I was already trying to figure out how I was going to pay off her engagement ring…that would take me years at the rate I was going.

I would have never thought that I would end up pursuing a career in sales.  In fact, it was about the last thing that I could have ever envisioned myself doing.  My father was a salesman, and I remember always telling him growing up that I never wanted to do what he did.  It appeared too stressful to me, and I had zero interest in it.  I knew that he made a good living doing it, but it would not be my future.  You had to be outgoing to be in sales…fearless, really.  And I was always relatively shy and somewhat intimidated by situations where I needed to present myself to a group.  I wouldn’t survive one day…

I had graduated from North Carolina with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History.  I studied History because I enjoyed it, but I never felt as though I wanted to teach or pursue a future in it.  So my plan had always been to go to graduate school.  I was pretty set on a Master’s degree in either Sports Administration or Sports Management and I spent some time researching both of those options.  I took the GRE my senior year and prepared a list of schools to which I would apply for admission.  But as things progressed, I slowly began to realize that I wasn’t really quite ready to make another commitment to school.  I wanted to experience the world a bit.

Sales jobs are always available.  There is a reason for that.  They carry an extremely high turnover rate.  But I wanted a job in Center City, and as a new graduate with no real world experience, it proved to be my best option for finding a position quickly that also had decent earning potential.  So I momentarily made my peace with it.  And before I knew it I was training for a job that was completely out of my comfort zone.

For someone with anxiety and panic, most would contend that sales is the worst career choice possible.  There are still days when I believe that to be the case myself.  The stress can at times be completely overwhelming, and I as mentioned in previous posts, stress and anxiety are closely linked with one another.  You can find yourself putting your personal well being at risk in this career if you aren’t careful.  The fear of presenting oneself in front of people and facing rejection…those are tough pills to swallow for anyone, let alone someone who suffers from mental health related issues.

But I had learned some things about my disorder over the course of the past several years of my life.  I realized that in order to beat anxiety and panic, you needed to confront it head on.  Sometimes that is far easier said than done, particularly when you are in the grips of a long term down period in your life and your mind has turned completely against you.  But fortunately, I had been free of any major setbacks for quite some time, so I was not afraid to challenge my deepest fears.  And sales gave me the opportunity to do that.

In my position I was asked to make cold calls every day in Center City Philadelphia.  And following a long day of walking the streets knocking on doors, I would be required to head back to the office and make phone calls for the final two hours of the day, attempting to set up meetings with my new prospects.  It sounds miserable, but there could not have been a better experience hand crafted for me at that point in my life.  I was forced acknowledge my insecurities and then leave them at the door.  I learned how to introduce myself and present effectively to decision makers.  And I discovered the secrets to gaining trust and confidence, building mutually beneficial partnerships, and remaining persistent and competitive in the pursuit of success.

I did the opposite of what my anxiety’s recipe had called for, and it worked.  I learned not to be intimidated or fearful of anyone or anything.  If you could knock on doors in Philly for a living, there wasn’t much that you couldn’t do.  God bless the people who live and do business there because they have a work ethic and grittiness that is unmatched, but they aren’t the most welcoming folks in country, that’s for sure.  Dodging building security guards like Vendetta at 121 S. Broad and escaping into elevators to avoid recognition that you were a salesperson was no picnic.  But it got easier in time.  I eventually learned to look at “No Solicitation” signs as an invitation to tour the building.  It was fun.  I was doing something that I knew 99% of the population couldn’t handle and I took pride in that.  I developed confidence in myself and in my ability to overcome stressful and fearful situations and that helped to keep my anxiety at a distance.  I found that often what is best for your well being is what’s least comfortable.

My fiance and I enjoyed the city for awhile, but the “newness” of everything was wearing off pretty quickly.  We both worked downtown and after being there all week long and fighting the congestion, we often found that we didn’t want to venture back in on the weekends.  So a lot of times we’d find a quiet restaurant in the nearby suburbs for dinner, or we’d visit my family about an hour and a half northwest so that we could escape to the small town setting where we were both most comfortable.  For Valentine’s Day that year we headed to the mountains for a long weekend at my family’s cabin in north central PA.  It was nice to just separate ourselves from the madness.  We were finding that a more quiet lifestyle suited us far better.

So in time we talked and soon after we began dreaming of moving to the suburbs.  I wasn’t thrilled with my current position and she was open to a career move as well.  We just needed to find the right opportunity.  Then one day during the winter I decided to send an email to a friend of mine (several years older) who had taken over ownership of his father’s direct mail production business nearby my hometown.  I didn’t receive an immediate response, but one day several weeks later while I was out knocking on doors in Center City, I got a call on my cell phone.  It was him, and he was looking to replace a sales rep who was retiring the following year, and thought that we should talk.  So one Saturday afternoon we met for lunch, and shortly after he offered me the position.  I would be given the opportunity to train with the retiring rep and then ultimately take on and manage his existing book of business and extend the company’s reach with my own direct efforts.  He was providing me with the chance to do far better financially and to support our move to the suburbs.  It was a proposal that I could not refuse.

Shortly after, my fiance also received an offer for employment with a hospital in the Allentown area.  She would be running their facility’s hyperbaric oxygen chamber.  She could not have been more excited.  It was her desire to work in a medical related field, and this gave her a chance to get her foot in the door.

Everything was falling into place.  It was fate, remember?

meeting my match

“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.  If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3)

Throughout the course of the year that had passed since my ex had left the state of North Carolina and departed from my life altogether, I spent a lot of time by myself coming to grips with who I was and what I wanted out of life.  I faced my personal demons head on and I learned to accept and appreciate the new me. Although there were slight setbacks at times, I had been really enjoying life.  And I didn’t feel compelled to search out a new relationship.  I was actually pretty content with just allowing things to develop in due time, and that felt good.  Perhaps my patience would allow me to find my perfect match.

I’ll never forget the day that I left that note at the front desk of my gym for the girl who had caught my eye at orientation a year and a half earlier.  It was only a couple of days prior to our Thanksgiving break senior year.  I was so incredibly nervous.  My hands were clammy and shaking as I spoke to the woman up front.  It had been quite awhile since I made a real effort to court anyone, so I was definitely not well prepared to make my move.  And after all, this was not just your average girl.  This was the person I had searched out on campus every day when passing through the quad since arriving at UNC.  In my mind, I felt at that moment that she could be my dream girl…my future soul mate.  I now had my opportunity with her.  I’d be devastated if she decided not to take an interest in my advances.

Soon after returning from break, we would finally have the chance to connect with each other.  I was at a bar on one end of Franklin Street with a couple of friends…He’s Not Here, to be specific.  We had been doing some significant damage to the blue cups that evening.  I had anticipated that I might see her that night, so I guess I was seeking out a bit of liquid courage.  It wasn’t long before she called me and asked if I (along with my friends) would want to head down to East End Martini Bar to meet up with her and friends.  We finished our beers and headed off to the opposite end of Franklin.  She greeted me inside with a hug.  And at that very moment, something beautiful began to develop.

I can’t begin to remember all of the details of that night.  Partly because I had been drinking that evening and I had become a bit of a lightweight with alcohol since I didn’t indulge very often.  But the main reason that my memory of that night is clouded is because I was so wrapped up in her.  We had a blast with each other; it was one of the best moments of my life.  I do remember her smile, her big blue eyes, the entire outfit she was wearing down to the finest accessory, and the way that she made me feel inside when we were alone.  I remember her kiss; it had never felt so right with anyone.  We drank, we danced, and we ultimately ended up taking about two hours to say goodnight…we couldn’t stop talking or kissing each other long enough to walk away.

That evening in Chapel Hill marked the beginning of a long romance between the two of us.  We started dating and quickly fell hard for one another.  I had been in serious relationships before, but this was like nothing else I had ever encountered.  We connected on every level in such an intense fashion that we just could not ever get enough of each other.  I was unbelievably attracted to her, to the point of near infatuation.  And she felt the same about me…it was a very passionate and intimate relationship right from the start.

We quickly began spending all of our time with each other.  If there was an opening in the day in between our class schedules, it was a safe bet that we would find ourselves together.  We’d work out with each other at the gym, take afternoon naps at my apartment, and then we’d spend the evenings in each others’ arms as well.  When we first met, she was living in one of the sorority houses on campus, but within a few months she had been spending so much time at my place that we decided to move the majority of her things to my apartment.  And with that closeness our bond continued to grow.

It was great being able to share the college experience with her our senior year.  We both had a passion for athletics, so she and I connected for the bowl game that winter in Charlotte, and we made it to countless UNC basketball games together including our amazing win over Duke at the Smith Center.  We were even able to witness our Heels win the National Championship that season – something I’ll never forget.  And we also met up daily on campus.  During the Spring semester I scheduled an elective course within her major and we took the class together.  We’d walk to class together across campus in the morning and exchange notes with each other the entire period most days…it was slightly immature, but cute, too…like a childhood romance.  And most days we’d coordinate picking each other up when one of us was out of class and the other was in or doing a lab on campus.  We were inseparable.  But there was never a point where it felt like too much.  It only got better with each passing day.

We both shared quite a bit of uncertainty about our plans following graduation.  We knew that we didn’t want our relationship to end, but we weren’t sure where we were headed.  I was hoping to live and work in a big city in the Northeast, and she had very little direction in that regard.  Her family was from Florida and she was a bit of a free spirit at that time, so she was open to any and all ideas.  Ultimately we settled on Philadelphia.  She of course was also a transfer student at UNC and shared the same challenges that I had experienced with credits being lost.  So she would need to take a course during the first summer session to meet her graduation requirement, although we would both walk on May 15th.

I flew to the city to interview for my first job just prior to graduation and was awarded the position.  I would start the week after commencement.  The plan was that she would stay at my apartment in North Carolina until she finished her summer course, and then we’d move in with each other in Philadelphia and begin our working lives next to each other.  I’d be renting an empty space and sleeping on an air mattress until she arrived, but I was completely fine with that.  I could not have been happier about our future together.  I couldn’t wait to see her.

I felt like a kid at Christmas time the day that we began the move.  My father had gone to North Carolina and had worked with my girlfriend at the apartment for several days packing things into boxes and preparing for the trek north.  When I arrived that weekend I was shocked to see that they had done almost all of the hard work.  She and my Dad were pretty close and that was really special to me.  I really found a lot of comfort in her connection with my family. We loaded the cars and the UHaul and headed off on our way.

It was only shortly after our arrival in Philadelphia that my girlfriend accepted a position working downtown as gym manager.  She was an Exercise and Sports Science major at UNC, and her job fit her strengths perfectly.  Aside from the short daily train commute, she really enjoyed her position and working in Philadelphia.  I worked in sales with my territory being Center City so we frequently had the opportunity to meet up for lunch or say “hi” throughout the day.  It was a good time in our lives.  We were sharing in the adventures of the real world, and although we weren’t getting rich, we were happy and in love.  It was exciting.

I knew almost immediately that this was the woman with whom I wanted to spend the rest of my life.  I never really had any doubts.  And in going over things and analyzing it in my head, I never once questioned whether or not it was right.  I couldn’t foresee a life without her.  I had met my best friend and my soul mate.  I decided that I wanted to propose.

I did the gentlemanly thing and asked her father’s permission and he gave me his blessing, and then after purchasing the ring I planned my proposal.  We would spend the night at the hotel where we stayed on our first visit to Philadelphia as a couple.  And then we’d walk to dinner at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse on Broad Street.  I coordinated the route so that we would find ourselves crossing into Love park…and next to the sign, just out of reach of the mist from the fountain, I bent down and asked for her hand in marriage.

She began shaking and asking me if I was serious…and then immediately answered, “yes of course!”.

seeing potential

As a sufferer of anxiety and panic disorder you develop incredible senses and awareness.  You become very watchful due to your constant apprehension and you take note of everything going on around you, and you do it to a fault.  Your senses become overwhelming at times because they constantly remind you to worry and they feed generously off of the vulnerability of your negative mindset.  Even most the most positive responses and emotions can find a way to turn themselves against you.  There have been many times in my life when I’ve allowed myself to get too excited or anxious for something and it has led to a setback.  It can absolutely wear you out.

As a result, you learn to truly appreciate the periods in your life when you are able to keep the monster at bay.  Living a “normal” lifestyle feels like Heaven on Earth.  And those keen senses that I had mentioned earlier actually begin to work in your favor.  You see things in a completely different light, and they appear all the more grander than ever before.  The morning sun, the sounds of the outdoors, the smells of the changing seasons…the little things in life become the most meaningful.  In many ways, anxiety is a curse, but in this regard it’s also a blessing.  Though we may often fall far deep into valleys of darkness, we can always appreciate our climb to the top of the mountain because our view will always be the most magnificent.

I’ll always look back on that period in North Carolina as a time when I was most appreciative of life.  Things had fallen apart with my relationship and I had every reason to fall back into a whirlwind of anxiety.  But I stood up, I fought, and I won the battle.  I became thankful for every day, and I developed an independence that I hadn’t reached in several years.  I had a completely new lease on life.

I transferred into UNC as a junior, and that made it somewhat challenging for me to make new acquaintances on campus.  Most upperclassmen had their friendships already well established, and I lived alone and really didn’t know anyone.  In time I was fortunate to meet some really nice underclassmen, and I hung out with those guys every now and then.  But for the most part I kept to myself and went about my business.  And I was completely fine with that.  It wasn’t always ideal, and I did get lonely at times, but I was comfortable with myself and I didn’t have a problem doing things alone.  And I was on a very health conscious kick…running daily, working out, eating right, and rarely mixing in any alcohol – I wasn’t a target companion for most college-age guys.  But I wasn’t going to change who I was for anyone.  After all, I was feeling the best I had in a couple of years and I didn’t want to risk getting off track.

I found a new appreciation for my family.  I realized after all that I had been through that they were always the one constant.  They supported me through the good, the bad, and the ugly.  They didn’t always agree with my choices, and I’m certain that they never fully understood what I was dealing with, but they did do their best to keep an open mind and stand by me.  I found myself beginning to worry about their well being since I knew they were getting older.  I felt like I had wasted opportunities to spend quality time with them at times when I personally lost sight of my priorities, and I began doing my best to hang around the house when I visited on my breaks.  I’d even set my alarm to make sure that I was up with my Dad in the mornings because I knew he was an early riser.  These were good habits to practice.  At least I was learning from my mistakes.

The second half of my junior year went by pretty quickly.  I decided to stay in Chapel Hill over the summer to take several courses to catch up on my requirements for graduation.  When I transferred in, I forfeited 13 total credits due to the fact the UNC would only accept business courses that were taken in their prestigious Kenan Flagler Business School.  This was a full semester’s worth of work.  But it was my priority to graduate in four years so I remained focused and committed to the classroom and completed four courses that summer.  I would head into my senior year on pace to graduate in the Spring of 2005.

Fall was the best time of year in Chapel Hill.  It had always been my favorite season, but now I was living only a couple of miles from Kenan Stadium, the home of my Tar Heels.  As I mentioned in previous posts, my family had season football tickets and they maintained those during my time in school at UNC.  So I got to see them several times that fall for visits and games, and we had a wonderful time together.  That season I witnessed an amazing four down goal line stand as we held off NC State for a wild victory in an intense rivalry game.  And I also saw Connor Barth split the uprights and send a 4th ranked Miami team packing in an improbable upset – we had been projected as 5 or 6 touchdown underdogs.  And on top of that, I was able to visit Virginia, Wisconsin, Utah, Wake Forest, and Duke for road games.  Utah was an amazing trip with my Dad – close second to Colorado on my all-time favorites list.  Beautiful city, breathtaking mountains, and incredibly friendly people.  Our team finished 6-5 and qualified for a bowl for the first time in several years.  It was a lot of fun to be a part of it as a student.

I didn’t spend a whole lot of time at UNC dating or chasing women.  For many months following her departure, my heart remained with my ex.  It took me a long time to come to grips with the situation and accept that fact that she was gone and would not be coming back.  And for a period after I came to that realization, I just felt completely numb.  I dated two girls for short periods of time, but nothing significant developed with either.  I was comfortable with who I was, and I didn’t feel as though I really needed anyone.

In August of 2003 at my summer orientation I remember having seen a girl that caught my attention.  I was there with my girlfriend, but I couldn’t help but notice her presence as we all gathered together forming groups for a tour of the campus.  She was gorgeous, and her beautiful blue eyes reeled me right in.  She was there with her mother and I can still picture clear as day what she was wearing.  I only spent a matter of minutes nearby her that day, but her impression on me would last forever.

I found myself continually looking for her on campus.  And from time to time during my two years in Chapel Hill I would pass her in the quad.  Considering there are nearly 30,000 undergraduate and graduate students at Carolina, this was a bit like locating a needle in a haystack.  Was this a sign?  I’d do my best to make eye contact and smile towards her, and every once in awhile I swear that I’d see her do the same.  But there was just really no opportunity to talk in passing, and I felt like I’d always wonder if there was anything to my curiosity about her and I.

Then one day as I was working out at a local fitness center, I saw her wandering about the floor of the club.  I learned through a friend who worked at the gym that she had just started there as a personal trainer.  I couldn’t believe it.  This absolutely had to be fate bringing us together.

For weeks I’d see her on a regular basis, but I couldn’t seem to stir up the courage to talk to her.  But eventually, I learned her name through my friend at the gym, and I decided to give it a go.  I asked her if she had transferred in to UNC, and she said that she had from the University of South Florida.  And then I proceeded to tell her that I remembered her from orientation, and that I had been hoping since that day that I’d have the opportunity to talk to her.  She seemed flattered, but a little uncomfortable about it all as well.  I’m guessing that it probably struck her as a bit odd that I remembered all of those details.

As I drove away that evening, I thought about leaving a message for her at the front desk with my phone number since I hadn’t summoned the courage to take our conversation that far inside.  And before I made it back to my apartment, I wrote the note, called my sister for a pep talk, and headed back to the gym shaking with anxious anticipation…