As the anniversary of when we first started dating was approaching, we wanted to do something special, so we booked a hotel. I had the money saved up…or so I thought. We planned for a two-night stay in a nice hotel. Unbeknownst to me, the hotel charged for incidentals and the total came out to almost $43 more than I had. I was embarrassed to say the least. I was about to cry but then it occurred to me to ask how much it was to stay for one night. It was enough to cover the charge.
I was depressed and near tears when we got to the room. Good thing I had the presence of mind to buy food since I knew the room had a mini refrigerator and microwave. I bought large containers of tortilla soup from a local well-known store, teriyaki noodles, two bottles of Italian soda, and an extra bowl of noodles for me because I am still learning to control my binge eating. He bought some energy drinks and burritos to snack on. (We live in a group home and he had spent most of his SNAP card refilling the deep freezer for the houses. I was buying what was needed for the other house since they had less and had to feed 17 people compared to our 10. I used mine to provide the soups, noodles, and drinks for our special night.)
Our free internet would not work no matter what we did to my fiancée’s PS3. It worked, however, on his PS Vita. “We’ll have to get cozy,” I said. He agreed.
Out of depression, I started binging on food. I was diagnosed with binge eating disorder, but I have done anorexia and bulimia in the past. After a while, I started thinking about my house manager and how she would have remedied having one less night. She tried to teach me to look at the sunny side of life and would make do with what you have. I put her lesson into place and thanked God I got to spend uninterrupted time with my fiancé. We showered and watched a show…but not for long. I’ll leave the rest to your imagination.
The next morning, we found out that there was no free breakfast. Thank God I brought extra noodles and he had an extra burrito to go with his noodles. After breakfast, we decided to go down to the hot tub. We were the only ones out there. I wore my t-shirt and his boxers. He had on a shirt and jean shorts. I sat in the hot tub and felt the pain in my back dissipate. He has the beginnings of rheumatoid arthritis, so he was in heaven.
He decided to get in the pool, which had a little waterfall. I watched him walking around in the water and it reminded me of something that the house manager asked me to do when I was attaining my lowest: to put my head under the water before the summer ends. I balked at it because my hair is very hard to dry and wash, plus at the time, I had cornrows. By now, my hair was out of cornrows and very damaged. The pool was not going to help the situation. I took the bull by the horns and got in the pool. I wandered over to the waterfall and let it splash over my head. A smile creeped over my usually blunted face. My fiancé carried in his arms and let me hold his hands while I kicked around the pool. I showed him how to do a backflip underwater.
To end this wonderful journey, we went to a Chinese buffet with the leftover money. It has been a long time since I have been truly happy. As Luther Vandross sings, “If only for one night…”
