Without Love, Where Would You Be Now?
Previously, Part 20: Susan's Smile Was the Only Thing That Outshined the Bright Orange Color of Her Camaro...
Sitting in our apartment in Fords, NJ, waiting for Susan to get off work, a lot of thoughts were racing through my mind. We moved to NJ because my father changed jobs and didn't honor the promises he made to us before we got married. We were supposed to live in Florida near him and my mother. He offered to get Susan a job in early childhood with someone he knew, and before the wedding, he assured us that he had. I was gonna work nights at the warehouse where he worked, so I could finish college during the day at U Miami and become a Physical Education Teacher and Coach. He didn't even try to make any of those things happen. He lied, and had an ulterior motive…
Becoming a New York garment salesman was my father's idea, not mine, and I hated myself for listening to him and not being stronger. Susan would've never moved to NJ if she hadn't married me. I allowed Erwin to manipulate me, and unfortunately, Susan, too. Because she became my wife, she was along for the ride, and to him, just collateral damage he cared little about.
When Susan walked through the door that afternoon, she was startled. "What are you doing home?"
I didn't waste any time. "I was fired. Andy should've been fired and held accountable; Jersey was his mess, but Sandy wouldn't listen, and he blamed me for the lack of sales…"
I thought Susan was gonna be really upset. I wouldn't have blamed her if she took a swipe at me, but she didn't. She wasn't even mad. She went right to finding a solution without placing blame. Her superpower. "We can move back to Sharon and stay with my parents until we get settled." She had it all figured out in under a minute.
I was so happy to hear her plan. I knew Irv and Gloria would be thrilled to have us home. They visited us once in NJ, just after we moved into the apartment in Fords, and although they were both positive, it was their nature; I could tell they wanted more for us. They were there during our courtship. My parents weren't. That's the difference. They knew how much Susan and I loved each other and that we deserved better than what my father did to us.
We rented a U-Haul trailer, hooked it up to the Monte, and filled it with our stuff. Susan was willing to do anything she had to for us, even go through hell, but she was very happy to be moving back to Massachusetts. Neither of us ever wanted to make New Jersey our home…
We left Jersey without jobs and with very little money, and we never looked back. Irv and Gloria made it clear that they would be there to help. I never trusted anyone as much as I trusted them. They were much more than just in-laws to me. Like Susan, they loved me unconditionally when no one else did…
We pulled out of the parking lot in Fords in separate vehicles. I was towing the trailer with the Monte. Susan looked incredible behind the wheel of her Camaro, and seeing a huge smile on her face, I couldn't have been happier. That car was the one good thing we took from NJ. She loved her orange Camaro and drove it for nine years…
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After an exhausting four-hour drive, we pulled into the driveway in Sharon, both of us relieved to finally be home…
As we walked into the house, I wondered, "Without love, where would we be now?"
To be continued…