The last piece of luggage was packed, the trunk slammed shut with a thud, and they were off. Ian and Laura graduated from college in the spring, and this was their first trip back to school for a visit. Laura knew she would cry when she watched the play in which her friends were appearing. As much as she was looking forward to this trip, the thought of seeing her friends still in college, especially in the theater, tore at her heart.
Ian and Laura met freshman year of college, and now four and a half years later they were still together, very much in love, but most importantly best friends. They were the perfect example of opposites attracting; she acted in most of the plays at school, and he built the sets. She was emotional and had a tendency to be a bit of a drama queen. He was solid, calm but sometimes a little stubborn. Their strengths and weaknesses complimented each other perfectly.
Laura cried on graduation day, not only because she was going to be leaving the life at college that she loved, but also because she was afraid that the distance between her home and Ian’s would be too much for their relationship. Ian was not worried. He knew they would work it out, and this made Laura feel a little better.
Now it was Fall and time for the first theatrical production of the year up at school. The first summer apart had not been that easy. Work took up a lot of time for both of them, but the weekend visits, when they could manage them, were precious. As the summer came to an end the phone calls became a little less frequent, and Laura was afraid that Ian was drifting away. But right now they were together pulling out of her driveway and heading up the highway.
They drove up RTE 2, toward the Berkshire
What she found was an unwrapped white box from a gift shop. Ian told Laura to open it. When she did she found a beautiful glass heart shaped box with a pewter lid, which was about the size of her hand. She opened the box and inside was a dazzling ½-carrot oval diamond ring nestled in the head of a rose. Laura cried out “YES”, put the ring on her finger and threw her arms around Ian, almost causing him to swerve into on-coming traffic. He realized it would probably be a good idea to pull over before Laura killed them both.
Any sadness Laura had associated with that weekend was now far from her mind. It was full of joy and celebrating with their friends and talking about the wedding to come. When she told Ian she had been afraid they were growing apart, he took her in his arms and said. “Babe, I am never going to let you go.”