The Rize Magazine January 2014 | Page 39

A few months had gone by quickly and we still had not kissed each other. I warned him that I didn’t want to. If he wanted to stay with me, he’d have to wait till I was ready. He was the most patient man I had ever met. Our relationship was growing stronger each time we saw each other. On September 21st, 8 days before my 17th birthday, we had sex for the first time. I felt so close to him after that. But, the night of my birthday, everything changed. My cousin’s friend, also Tylor’s ex-girlfriend, called me. Long story short, she told me that he cheated on me with her a few days earlier. My world was shattered. Was it true? Did he really do that to me? What should I do? I was lost. I cried all the next day at school. I skipped classes. I contemplated jumping in front of a car because physical pain would be better than my heartbreak. When I got home, my mother knew right away that something was wrong. I told her about the phone call and she told me that it could not be true. Tylor came over that afternoon to give me a necklace for my birthday. It had three hearts on it, one for the past, one for the present and one for our future. It was then that I knew who to believe.

A few months later, there was a ring on my finger.

In September, I started College and throughout the year, we planned our wedding. We had a few obstacles; people who thought we were too young, family who thought we’d marry different people, financial problems, etc. But, despite all the negativity, on July 5th, 2008, we got married. It was a beautiful, sunny day; that I barely remember. I was drunk on love. The only parts I remember was getting my hair done and my bridesmaids asking me if I was nervous and saying no. Kissing my father’s stubble while he was holding his heart surgery pillow, my legs shaking while I stood in front of the church and thinking that I was smart for choosing a long dress, drinking a few different kinds of Champaign in the limo, wishing Tylor’s grandmother a happy birthday, searching for a groomsman at the reception and sneaking away at the end of the night.

We left two days later for our honeymoon in Alaska. Our first trip together. We went for hikes, dog sledding, a small cruise, we saw wild bears and we even went white water rafting. To this day, we always remember our days in the cabin and wish we could escape all of the drama and go back. It was a beautiful place and we loved every second of it. By the end of August 2008, I was married, I was about to graduate college and I got hired for a job in my field of study. I was one proud woman. A few people looked down on me, saying I was too young to own a house, to get married at the age of 19 and that I was already done my education. They told me that my marriage would never last, that I would change careers because I hadn’t put enough thought into it and that I would regret settling down too quick. I told myself that I would prove all of them wrong.

...Cont

Fast forward one year to fall 2006. Tylor lived in Moncton and worked fulltime. I had enrolled in University and got a car. We saw each other almost every day. In January, I officially moved in with him. A few months later, we bought our first pet together, our cat Munchkin; who still lives with us today. In June, we bought our first house in Memramcook. We lived a perfect life.