Taking Time

I knew that he had always thought about it, but I never thought he would make it a reality. Cam and that brilliant mind of his has really done it. He has made everything that I have ever dreamt of become a reality. That's only one of the reasons I fell deeply in love with him. He is smart and funny and so creative and when he has his heart set on something I love seeing the fire and inspiration in his eyes because you know that he will give his all. When he loves, he loves deep and you can tell. A part of me is jealous of his brilliant nature, the way he always knows what to do and when. Even in the worst of situations, he remains unphased and seems all knowing. 

We first met in a small coffee shop, he was editing a soundtrack for one of his clients. Cam had loved music ever since he was a kid and got a small job with a producing company by editing soundtracks and doing all that techy stuff, he always kept quiet about it and said he did not want to seem like a nerd or some kind of social outsider but I think it is cute the way he knows his way around a computer and honesty any technology. In the sweet little coffee shop where we met, I was studying the pros and cons of gene editing in embryos. I knew that trying to get into med school would be a challenge, but nothing like this. If pre med is this much of a struggle for me the rest will definitely not be a walk in the park but I am up for the challenge. 

While in the coffee shop (many years ago when I first met Cam) I noticed Cam get up from his seat and go to the counter to probably get a refill. I did not take much notice of him until he sat two coffees down on the table I was sitting at and slid one over in front of me and pulled out the seat across from me. “Mind if I sit?” he asked, smiling slightly but just enough to where you could see his dimples. I took out my airpods and nodded not knowing what else to say. He introduced himself and we clicked right on the spot, not even a week later he asked me out and we started dating. After dating for 2 and a half years of dating he popped the question and now we have been happily married for just over three years. 

When I tell people that part of my life they usually sigh and say that I have a good life and how lucky I am and they say that I am living the dream with Cam. They are right about one thing, I am lucky to have Cam because without him, I would be completely lost and utterly hopeless. 

When I was twelve years old my mother divorced my dad and left our family completely. She took my little sister and brother with her leaving only me with my dad. On their way out of town, they got into a fatal accident and died that very day they left my dad and I in the dirt. Two years later when I was fourteen my father was put in jail because he was accused of murder. My mothers twin sister claimed that my father tampered with the car leading to my mother, sister, and brother's fatal accident because she left him earlier that day. At the hearing when the judge declared him guilty (even though he was completely innocent) my father ran. He ran right out of the courtroom and into the streets. The police hunted him down and shot him while he was trying to escape. 

In the hospital, as my father was slowly dying he took my hands and looked me in the eyes. “Avery,” he said looking more sincere than I have ever seen him in my life, “I have been meaning to tell you this and I am so sorry for hiding it from you for such a long time. I need, need to warn you…” and then he died. He never finished and to this very day I have no clue what he was going to say. Ever since that day I have never stopped talking about how I would do anything to be able to go back to ask him what he was going to tell me or to stop him from running so he would not end up dead leaving me with nobody. I decided to go into medicine so that I could work in the hospital to help people who are dying just like my dad did, except I would save them and keep trying until the very last minute unlike the doctors who saw my dad. They took one look at the bullet he took to the chest and said that he had only a few minutes left to live and then left the room saying that they had more patients to tend to. 

Cam had heard me tell the story of my father over and over again and was determined to help me in any way that he could, no matter how crazy it seemed. Cam worked day and night trying to think up some way he could let me see my dad once more, even just for a few seconds. One morning I woke up and Cam was not next to me. I rushed down the stairs to look for him and I found him with tears running down his face sitting by his machine that he had made. “I did it Avery! I actually did it! I made a time machine!” It took me a second for his words to actually sink in. He had actually found a way for me to see my dad! 

He took my hands and looked me in the eyes and asked if I was ready. I had some nerves but definitely was overcome with curiosity and excitement. Slowly, he pressed the button on the machine and I saw the one person I thought I never would see again in my lifetime, my father was standing right in front of me.