An Ending-A Beginning

This picture represents an ending, as well as a new beginning in my life.  Yes, it's in black and white, but what's important is the location, and the person in the picture. This is my boyfriend, his name is Anthony and someday, we plan to get married.  The dog next to him is Dixie, although the fact that he's with her is not why this picture is significant to me. The location of this picture is in Calaveras at my dad's house.  Calaveras is in the middle of no where and it takes four hours to get there. This was the first time Anthony met my dad, and the last time he ever saw him. 

I met Anthony in Santa Rosa, and we fell in love. After a while, I had to go back home to my dads.  He came up to Calaveras one weekend he had off of work.  He met my dad and my dad loved him which is unusual for him because he was the type of dad that would have a talk with a boyfriend with a shotgun sitting beside him. We ended up having so much fun together, we watched movies, and had great laughs. Anthony and I were inseparable since the day we met, we hated not being together. When it was time for him to leave I didn't want him to go. I told him that he couldn't leave and he told me to go with him, so I did.  

I ended up staying with Anthony for approximately one month, when I got a call from a police officer telling me my dad had passed away. He got thrown into oncoming traffic on his Harley and was hit head on by a van.  I started screaming and Anthony was sitting right next to me, He grabbed me and I cried in his arms. I was just screaming and crying and I couldn't believe it. I was in shock, it was all a blur. It was unreal I felt like I was in a nightmare. I was scared, and sad, and felt like my whole life had just fallen apart. I was heartbroken. I called my mom and my sister to tell them. I was the first person to know, and the next few days were very foggy. I became severely depressed and all I did was drink alcohol, and sleep. I would wake up, drink, and go back to sleep. I slept all day from the time we fell asleep at night; usually around midnight, until the time Anthony came home from work around 6pm. Then, when he came home we would drink all night together, I wanted to escape reality. It is by far the saddest I had ever been in my life and the hardest thing I had ever had to go through. This was the end of my life.

I stayed in Santa Rosa with Anthony, his parents knew what happened and were kind enough to let me stay with them. I wouldn't have gotten through any of it if it weren't for Anthony, I had just met the man of my dreams and fallen in love and at the same time my dad had died. About 2 months after he died I became pregnant with a miracle. I quit drinking and smoking cigarettes the second I found out. I was forced to deal with all my feelings and the only way I could go was up. My life took a turn for the best. Having Aubree was the best thing that ever happened to me, my hurtful tears were replaced with tears of joy. Although, I will always miss my dad, I had so much love in my heart for my new family.  Little did I know when I took this picture that I was looking at the hero that God sent me right before he took my dad. This was the beginning of my life.