Love On the Brain (Corey Crawford)

43| Guardian Angel

Corey

As the summer starts to come to a close I realized that my days where I wouldn't be in the gym are numbered. So my parents come down for a little and get a hotel and we hang out with Freddie and Jessie for a while. We grab some food and go to the movies and hang out at the pier. My parents love to come down because it's always pretty fun to be around the city, especially in the summer. There's stuff they can go off to do as a couple or they'll grab me and Jessie and we'll all do something together.

As for today we were going to go to the Cubs game as they take on the Brewers. While they have not been the crown jewel of sports in Chicago, they were getting pretty close to  ring just that this season. This 2016 season they were having was incredible and the only way it was going to end was with a end to a title drought dating back to 1908. And I thought the Blackhawks 49 year title drought was bad...

"I have to say, I wasn't always into sports but given the option I would take hockey over baseball any day" Jessie admits as we sit behind the first base line

"And why is that" I wonder.

"We'll for one it's a lot funnier when drunk guys are yelling at hockey games, I think they're a lot more creative there. And for two Hockey is a lot more interesting. If I know nothing about hockey I can still enjoy the game. I know nothing about baseball but I know that guy who hasn't seen action standing in the outfield out there must be misrible" she explains.

"This is your country's favorite pastime" I remind her.

"It should have been reading..." she mumbles.

"Do you like to read" my mom asks her and I laugh. You have to laugh.

"I have a whole library at home full of different kinds of books. I read every night before I go to bed no matter how much it annoys Corey" she says. Shes not wrong.

"I've been looking for some new books to get into" my mom claims.

"I'll have to bring you by my house sometime! We have at least 3,000 books ranging from non-fiction to science fiction to history to fantasy. Anything you could think of" Jessica explains.

"That sounds amazing. Then I can meet your mom" my mom insists.

"Sounds like a plan" Jessica smiles.

"Sounds like it" my mom agrees.

The girls go off and walk around for a while because they were getting bored and the people around us were getting annoyed that they were constantly talking and not about the game. So my dad takes Jessie's seat next to me and he just stares at me.

"What" I ask as I feel his eyes burn through me.

"Am I supposed to believe that you were able to be just friends with that girl for six months" he questions and I laugh.

"Hard to believe, isn't it? That her and I have only been in a relationship for a month and some change. It honestly feels like a lifetime we've been together, like I've lived my whole life with her. Maybe it's because I only felt like I've been living since she's been around, maybe it's because she's my whole life. I don't know. But I'm sure as hell not going to question it" I admit.

"Is she the one" he asks and I smile.

"No doubt about it" I admit.

"She's a real good girl. She's got her head on straight, seems like she's got yours on there pretty good now too" he claims.

"She's a miracle worker. That's for sure" I nod.

"How bad were you before? Because I know it was bad, but not getting a life coach bad" he admits.

"It was awful. I mean, I was into medication, alcohol, just not wanting to leave my apartment. Somedays I wanted to leave and never come back. I was so on top of the world and I just felt like shit. I didn't understand why I felt like this, I didn't understand how my life got to that point. And I couldn't fix it, I tried but I always ended up in my old habits. It was ugly, my friends didn't want to hang out with me. My girlfriend didn't want anything to do with me and the organization was done with it. They wanted me on this team, but not at the rate I was going" I explain.

"Why didn't you say anything to us" he questions. I could hear the hurt in his voice when he asked that. No parent wants to hear that their kid is struggling, especially not anything like I went through.

"I couldn't tell you, I couldn't tell anyone but especially not you. I wanted to, I wanted so bad to just come home and for everything to stop but running away wasn't going to fix anything. And I couldn't just call you and be like "my life is shit, help me." I know how much me being happy and healthy is to you and to tell you that I was neither of those things, I couldn't do it. So I fought myself, by myself. I tried to be strong for you guys but I know you knew something wasn't right" I admit.

"I felt like I was losing my son" he admits and I sigh.

"Yeah, I don't imagine it was too easy for you either. But you couldn't have fixed me, you weren't the problem" I assure him.

"So how did you get better then" he asks and I smile.

"It was Jessie. She's brilliant when it comes to handling life, how to see things for that they are and interpreting everything that's ever happened to me. She broke everything down, asked the hard questions and took the answers like a champ. She's literally my guardian angel" I admit.

"She still fell in love with you while knowing all this stuff? Because hearing it breaks my heart but somehow it made hers grow fonder" he says.

"She's one of a kind, that's for sure. She doesn't believe in making mistakes or someone being bad, she thinks everyone deserves a second chance. She knows that given the chance anyone can get better. She saw this guy in me that I am today and wanted so bad for me to get better. You should have seen how much emotion she had when I got that concussion, she was scared for me. My case was always special to her, and now I'm something special to her" I explain.

"Well I'm happy for you. Not only are you better but you found a great girl who your mother might try to steal" he claims and I laugh.

"Wouldn't be the first time. A lot of people are trying to get to her brain" I admit.

"Is she still working" he wonders.

"Yeah, but her next big project is Jonny and he's not back until September" I explain.

"Well I'm a fan of hers" he claims and I smile.

"Yeah dad, I am too."