The first months of our relationship were a bit of a whirlwind.  I was 18 and working as a surgical assistant, 11-12 hour days.  Brady was 23 and had quit his job and started up his very own business, Lifeguard Computers, which he was running out of his parent’s garage at the time.

I tease (but not really) that I was a bit of a damzel in distress when we first got together.  It was definitely a year of transition for me. The months before I started dating Brady, I had broken up with my high school boyfriend that was what I would imagine what most post-high-school-break-ups are like in a small town.  My high school friends were in the position of picking sides, and the reality of that hurt me.  I was suddenly shoved into the real world where my life-long friends were no longer acquaintances.  I moved TEN times that year, I had a Jetta that broke down more than my single-girl salary could keep up with, my parents had both moved out of state and all my sisters were married and raising their own families.  I was drowning in a sea of mechanic fees, packing/unpacking, 50 hour work weeks and desperately trying to stay afloat.

It was then, and still is beyond me how and why Brady stayed around through all that craziness.  Constantly moving me from this apartment to that, picking me up from work when my jetta was in the shop, eating ramen noodles with me in my empty apartment when that’s all I could afford to do…

But he did.  He stuck around and never so much as batted a lash at the tornado I called life.  When my roommate was moving to another state, or getting married, or moving back home, Brady was right there with his truck to move me to the next place.  When my Jetta was broken down, Brady was pulling it into his dad’s shop to see what we could do to fix it on our own.  When I needed a friend to talk to, to lean on, a shoulder to cry on, Brady was right there giving me just what I needed.  He was the best friend I ever had, and he loved me.  He loved me like no one else in my life had ever loved me before.  He was understanding, and unconditional no matter what problem arose.

After about six months, I needed to get away.  I loved Brady dearly, but neither of us were ready for marriage and I knew that if I wanted to ever move out of this small town, I better do it now.  Like all the other crazy circumstances that had come up in that 6 months, Brady was supportive as ever for me to get away for a few months.  I think he knew how hard it had been on me and how desperately I needed a fresh start and that this was the only way I could think of to get it.  Breaking up with Brady when I moved to Austin, Texas was never so much as a thought.  It never got brought up in conversation and it never crossed my mind.

The days leading up to my move, Brady helped me pack what would fit in my car and store the rest.  We talked about our phone conversations and how we would stay in touch.  We talked about visiting and how we would schedule a visit every month and take turns flying each place.  I have no idea if Brady was secretly falling apart about me going, but he never showed that side to me.  While I knew he would miss me, he seemed so proud of me for making such a big decision and sticking to it.

I changed my phone number, email address and everything I could think of.  I needed a fresh start, I needed something different than what I was doing.  So I packed my jetta, prayed that it would make it and set off for Austin.

I felt immediately relived and while I knew I had made a good decision, leaving Brady behind was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do.