Young love

 Before I go any further with Doris Jean's story, I have to jump back a bit.  We left off with Sean and me driving across the country, leaving my mom behind.  Sean and I met in 10th grade English class. I had zero interest in him as he was not my type whatsoever.  Up until I met him my boyfriends were pretty much blonde hair, blue eyes with a thin build.  Sean was over 6 feet tall, with a very stocky build, dark brown almost black hair, and brown eyes.  He hung around the skateboarders, played basketball in the gym every morning before school, and smoked cigarettes among other things. Totally not my type! 

One day I came into English class upset because I either got into an argument with my boyfriend or we broke up, something happened.  Sean sat a few desks ahead of mine and said, it looks like you could use a hug.  I sure did need a hug. He walked over and put his arms around me and gave me the best hug I have ever had in my life.  After that, we started talking before class.  I remember a friend of mine in the class came up to me and said Jackie, you can do so much better than him, he is bad news. We continued to talk. 

We both went to Vo-Tech for half of a day, I went for Early Childhood Education and he went for Electrical. It didn't take long for those bus rides to turn into full makeout sessions.  We were both hooked.  He asked me to be his girlfriend on July 12, 1988.  We broke up a few times in High School, and got back together, but nothing major. During our senior year, we were arguing a lot and broke up for a few months before graduation. Sean started to date someone else and I was crushed. Doris Jean would tell me, honey, you two are meant to be together, don't worry about it.  Graduation came and we were still broken up.  I knew it was time for me to move on. So remember, my dad didn't come to my graduation, my mom was sitting in the wheelchair, and Sean's girlfriend was up in the bleachers cheering for him.  She was a year older than me and she had a daughter.  Instant family. I couldn't wait to be done with that day. OMG!!!

I think it was a few days after graduation, he calls me at my job.  I was a nanny that summer and my mom gave him the phone number to where I was working.  He asked if I would go to dinner with him that evening and I told him no.  I told him I had moved on and so should he.  He told me he would take me to my favorite restaurant, Chi-Chi's, and that there were some things he really needed to say to me.  I agreed. I meet him there, he sheds a few tears, I shed a few tears and he tells me he just can't live without me. That it was and will always be me.  My first thought was, what are you going to tell the girlfriend? He said we will go to my house and call her.  He called, I was on one receiver, and he was on another.  He tells her that he loves me and just can't be with someone else. She was actually very cool about it. She said you know what Sean, when I think about Sean, I think about Jackie, and when I think about Jackie, I think about Sean. 

Sean joined the Navy shortly after that and went to boot camp.  I had this weird time when I was hanging out with unsavory people in neighborhoods I should not have been in. It didn't take long for me to figure out that those people and places were not meant for me.  Sean and I knew we wanted to get married and we didn't want to wait.  He proposed in his childhood bedroom.  We got our marriage license in Denton Maryland.  We called immediate family members and told them the day we were going to the courthouse to get married.  June 24, 1992, was the day we tied the knot.  Of course, my dad wasn't there but guess who came in her wheelchair, Doris Jean!  She wouldn't have missed it for the world.  My mom LOVED Sean so much.  He lived with us for some time in High School as he was having a rough time at home. I would always say to my mom, remember I am your daughter. I always felt like she took his side on everything.  She did!  One year Sean missed Christmas due to the Navy and she refused to put the Christmas tree away because he needed a proper Christmas. She was so sweet! Sean went to California before me and got us an apartment and flew home so we could make that drive to our new home in California.  I said goodbye to Doris Jean and away we went..     

Our graduation photos: