Chapter Eleven:
My goals in life were simple. I wanted to go to law school, graduate with honors, get a good job and make a ton of money out of it. Never in my wildest dreams did I think about getting married at the age of eighteen. You can even ask all of my friends, and they’d tell you how I was the most well-grounded, rational man they have ever met. Even when Skylerk told me that he was going to propose to Lindsey, I was the only one in the group who didn’t agree with the idea. I didn’t think that he was being realistic. He was only sixteen for crying out loud! So what if Uncle Greg and Aunt Adanna agreed to it? I still thought that the whole thing was messed up! I remember saying to myself that night that though I was madly in love with Sam, I would finish school first, then when I have everything I need, that’s when I will marry her. That was the plan. A plan I cannot even understand why it all changed.
It was a cold Saturday night—a few minutes before we would greet the year 2006—when I was standing with my band as we played for Skylerk and Lindsey. By this time, Lindsey had already grown very weak. She had lost a lot of weight, her eye sight was starting to get worse, and she was pale as she could ever be. She even needed a wheel chair for her to be moved from her room to that specific area of the house. It was a heart breaking moment. All of us looked at them as Sky slowly picked her up to dance with her beneath the full moon light. He was smiling at her. Looking right in her eyes, as if she was still the most beautiful girl in the world. I was overwhelmed to be a part of it. Especially when Skylerk slowly leaned Lindsey’s head towards his shoulder, holding her close, as he gently whispered the words “Marry me again….” to her ears.
We were all teary eyed. And if you were there, I bet you’d be too. There was just something about finding the rarest kind of love and not wanting to lose it. Keeping it safe within your hearts like it was a treasure, filled with the gold dusts and diamonds and the most special kind of gems. One of which someone has been desperately searching for years. It was the kind of love they had. And the sinking realization suddenly hit me. I know this might start a firestorm, but I just thought: well, you don’t have to be all practical when it comes to really loving someone, you know? If you love them and you’re sure that they’re the one for you, then like what my father would always say…. Marry them!
Yes, being married at young age has its faults. I was only eighteen! I had no work yet. I wasn’t even in college. The feeling of me wanting to propose to Samantha defied my every single way of thinking. Does this indicate that I don’t mean what I say? I’m not sure. All I know was that I love Samantha David, and I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. How I could already imagine Skylerk’s reaction teasing me. I mean, I gave him that “talk” when he told me that he was going to marry Linds. Me being all wise and stuff. But now it was his turn. And I could imagine him laughing at me.
As expected, my parents were quite open with the idea that I wanted to propose to Sam. To be very honest, I actually wanted them to talk me out of it. But instead they just agreed and whole heartedly supported me as if it was the most right thing to do. Their answer was actually a quick yes—I mean, my mom is sisters with Aunt Adanna, so I guess it just runs in the family. She even helped me with the engagement ring. You wouldn’t believe the kind of excitement she had that day. I mean who does that? After really praying about it, I finally decided that I was going to push through.
Yes, I didn’t have a job, but I figured that I could just sign a record deal with Uncle Greg or be a movie star like my brothers. Or a director—which used to be one of my greatest dreams—or maybe even be a writer. Either way, they all can make money that is enough to support a family. So it was settled, Mr. Jacobs the rockstar and his wife, a professional Medical Doctor. Yeah……. All I had to do was to ask Mr. and Mrs. David—Samantha’s parents—their permission and I was good to go. Yep, that’s me…. Clayton, the rock star. And you know what? My talk with them still frightens me until this very day.
