Through the Wringer: Part III

Posting two parts today to make up for missing yesterday. Here's Part III:

D had just had an interview near where I was going to law school. He called me a few days later with news. He had gotten the job! We were so excited. Not only was the job close enough that we could live in the same town, but it was finally a job that utilized D’s degree. Once again, just a few weeks after we thought we were going to have to be apart, we were together again.

Since we had lived together all summer and neither one of us could really afford to live on our own, D moved into the two bedroom apartment with me. It felt like we were playing house for awhile, with D going to work every day and me going to school.

I admit law school was a struggle for me. I really never had to put much effort into studying before. I did minimal work (a.k.a. usually just reading) and would get decent grades from high school all the way through college. Law school was work! Classes required at least an hour of reading before each one and that didn’t include any note taking or briefing you did so you could remember the cases for class the next day. The two week stretch of finals every semester required long hours upon hours of studying.

Through all this, D and I had our ups and downs. Law school was stressful. As such, I was already stressed out. On top of that, law school culture is one of drinking. Large amounts of your classmates go out several times a week. D had a regular job, so it just wasn’t feasible for him to do so. There are times I went out with the girls, or a group of friends sans D. After awhile, this did put a strain on our relationship. Looking back, I wasn’t being very respectful of D or even myself at times. Add to the fact that anytime we visited either D’s family or mine, it was a three and a half hour drive. This was not something we were used to.

We managed to get through all the relationship ups and downs together to survive my first year of law school. Summer was fast approaching. I tried to get a job at a few places. I’ll admit that I was picky in pursuing a job. I got a little egotistical and felt it was too low to take a job at a fast food joint (slightly in my defense, I had never worked fast food in my life). I’m sure D was frustrated with me and only living on one source of income that summer, but he kept that to himself.

I did babysit for D’s sister for a week when she didn’t have daycare. During that time, I got a call that they were offering me a job at telemarketing firm I had interviewed at. Unfortunately, they weren’t offering any new training classes until the end of the summer and I would only end up working for a few weeks before school started. I knew there was no way I could work during the semester, so it just seemed pointless.

If I had known was about to happen, I might have taken the job. Unexpectedly, D called me in the middle of the day. The news was not good…D had been laid off.

What did D and I do next? Stop by tomorrow for Part IV.

Happy Crafting!