Having known and loved Kevin for more than half of my life, it feels impossible to be on this earth without him. As if, I have lost a limb or a piece of myself. Married at 24 and 25, we literally grew up together. Starting at our little one-bedroom in Arlington, we navigated early-married life as best we could. Learning to make decisions as a team. Adjusting for each other’s shortcomings and peccadillos. There were some tough moments in those first few years but ultimately love won out. We loved each other with an enduring love. One that would not quit.
In July of 2000, we moved to Boston. What an adventure we embarked upon. Leaving Arlington on the 4th of July weekend, Kevin drove a U-Haul and I drove our Honda Civic behind him. We didn’t have an easy pass, so armed with a roll of quarters we drove up I-95 hitting all of the 4th of July traffic.
When we finally arrived in Boston, the prior tenant was still moving out of the apartment in which we were moving. We quickly learned that the tenant had hired a crane to move furniture out of the apartment because they could not get it out down the winding stairwell. Yikes! We only had a few large pieces but were concerned the couch (hand me down from my grandparents) would not fit. However, it was going to cost us $1200 to move the couch into the apartment. We did not have that money after paying a finder’s fee to the realtor, first and last month’s rent, and a security deposit! So we donated the couch to goodwill and bought a futon. That futon served us well for 16 years … serving as our guest bed 🙂
Our first apartment in Boston was beautiful, an old brownstone divided into one-bedroom apartments on each floor. We lived on a wide, gorgeous street, Warren Avenue and the apartment had tall ceilings, crown molding, a non-working fireplace, a tiny galley kitchen, and one closet. But we made it work! The first morning, we woke up to Baptist church music streaming through the windows. Woah! What a wake up.
We spent the next seven years in Boston. We made dear friends, worked, went to Red Sox games, both went to graduate school, and we got our first dog, Cinnamon. It was in Boston, that we became an in formidable partnership; we only had each other to count on. Living in Boston was expensive too as we put all of our money towards rent. Finally, we decided it was time to grow our family.
In the Fall of 2006, we found out I was pregnant was our first son. What an exciting time! We told our parents over Christmas and everyone was overjoyed. We also decided we wanted to live our loved Boston to be closer to our families. Kevin accepted a job in Baltimore, which he started in June of 2007. Sean was due July 9th and we would move to Baltimore a few weeks after he was born.
However, Sean had other plans! Sean did not come on his due date. In fact, he would not arrive until July 21, 2007. And because we were ready to be grown ups, we had purchased our first home in Baltimore’s Canton neighborhood and were set to close on July 31st. Sean was born via c section, so we stayed in the hospital for several days. I remember Kevin’s pride and adoration of Sean from the first moment he held him. And I remember Kevin pushing me to do as the doctor said, to help me start walking and moving my body. This helped my recovery tremendously.
We returned to our Boston home when Sean was five days old, and we drove to Baltimore when he was six days old. I believe we spent a night in a hotel in Connecticut on our way down, and moved into a furnished apartment in Baltimore. This part is a bit of a blur, but Sean was still so sleepy so probably was the best time to do the drive.
Once in Baltimore, Kevin had to go into his office. And I remember, when Sean and I woke up, I didn’t have any coffee! So, I bundled him up and we walked to the dunkin donuts. Shortly after that, Sean found his voice and started the on and off again crying that newborn’s do. We closed on our new home on July 31st and moved in the next day.
That first year in Baltimore would prove pretty challenging but we learned resilience, and strength, and again showed our deep abiding love for each other and our family.
