Woy
RIP West
The Pursuit of Happiness (Part 2)
Hilton Head, SC; the place where I made one of the biggest mistakes and found one of the best gifts in my life. This trip wasn't about reunions and flashbacks, however. This trip was to be with Melyssa's ailing uncle and to look into possible schools to transfer to...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
She was a mess. She couldn't get over it. It's been over a year now since that day, but the way he left her still replayed every day in her mind. She kept putting it on herself - it was her fault for all of this. She was the reason he walked out. She was the reason he hasn't spoke to him. The guilt was eating her alive...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
After unpacking everything in Melyssa's grandparents' apartment at Shelter Cove, we took my car to the hospital where I would meet her sick uncle for the first time. As I pulled into the parking lot, some thoughts were running through my head. I've never been in this type of situation and didn't know how bad he really was.
Walking into the hospital, I looked into some of the rooms. Some of the patients looked in decent shape, like nothing was wrong with them. However, I continued to look into the rooms while walking by and was disturbed by what I saw. Men covered in burns, women white as ghosts, etcetera - these were things I have never had to encounter. As I was processing my thoughts, Melyssa tapped me on the shoulder.
"Here it is. Room 254."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
As she looked at the pictures they took long ago, a tear fell from her eye. Why didn't she give him another chance? Why did she throw him out of the house? Questions desired to be answered would never be, because he was never coming back. He was in a better place now, enjoying his successes. He was with a woman who loves him for who he is, and would accept his faults. She stuffed the pictures back in the drawer and wiped the tears from her eyes. She had to be strong...she just had to.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Hey Uncle Matt."
"He..hey Melyssa."
I walked in the door to see a weakened man lying down in bed. I could tell by his voice that he was using most of his energy just to start a conversation with his niece. Melyssa sat down a chair and motioned me to sit beside her. Matt poked his head up and saw someone he didn't recognize.
"Melyssa, wh..who's this?"
"Uncle Matt, this is my boyfriend, Ethan - the one I was talking to you about last time."
"Et..Ethan, huh? You're the sup...superstar from Syracuse, right?"
"Yes I am, Mr. Washington."
"Plea...please just call me Matt."
"Sorry, Matt. How are you feeling?"
"I..I'm feeling alright. So you're th...the lucky guy that gets to da...date my niece?"
"Yes sir, I'm very lucky to have a girlfriend as great as Melyssa. She's absolutely incredible."
"You sho...should be Ethan. I remember when I fo...found love early in my life. It felt so...so real, so perfect. Best feeling in th...the world."
A smile was creeping onto his face which made me feel good. Here was this man on the brisk of dying, willing to tell me some of the same things I've been going through. Anytime I could put a smile on someone's face, it brought me up.
"And where is this lucky lady now?"
That smile turned upside down very quickly. Did I say something wrong?
"That lucky lady wa...was my wife."
"Was?"
Shit, I shouldn't have said that.
"Ye...yeah. She was pregnant with my child and..."
I could feel the pain in his voice, and that wasn't the weakened immune system speaking. I definitely hit a nerve I shouldn't have hit and I was about to apologize for bringing it up when Melyssa bumped my shoulder.
"Ethan, we should go."
"Yeah, you're probably right. It was nice meeting you Matt. I'm sorry for bringing that up and I hope you recover very quickly."
"It...it's okay, and th...thank you."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Another class down, one more to go."
After finding the strength stop thinking about the past and worry about class, she was in her room again. Lying in her bed, letting minutes pass, he was startled to hear a knock at her door. It was the one person that would get her mind off of the past.
"Hey Stephen!"
"Hey boo, how was class?"
"Boring, the same old shit. What are you up to?"
"About to get ready for practice. I was just stopping by to see if you were feeling alright. You seemed out of it last night."
She agrees that she was out of it last night. While flicking through channels yesterday afternoon, she stopped to watch some college football highlights. As she was waiting to see her team play, another game that intrigued her came across the screen. She saw a familiar face, but couldn't put a finger on who it was. As the analysts broke down his play, she finally realized who it was - a blast from the past.
"I didn't really feel good hun. I feel better now."
"You sure?"
No, she was still miserable. She couldn't let him see that though.
"Yeah. Have fun at practice."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Babe, I'm really sorry. I didn't know..."
"Shhh. It's not your fault. I'll go back tomorrow and explain to him."
"Okay, let him know I'm sorry I brought it up."
"I will. So what are you going to do?"
"I'm actually going to check out some colleges around here. Get a feel how different they are from Syracuse. You want to come?"
"Nah, I'm really tired actually. Can you just drop me off at the apartment?"
"Sure thing sweetheart."
As I dropped her off, I made a decision on the first college I would visit...
...the University of South Carolina.
et:
