Becoming The Browns - Part 8

We were dating.  We were happy.  Really happy.  We were in love.  (I think.)

For 2 years Mr. Brown and I lived very happily in our little world of new romance (in separate apartments, of course).  We took trips and did couple-y things and just had a great time. 

And since life was going so well I finally decided the time was right to finish that Master’s degree I’d been working on.  I was sick of my job and didn’t really see a future with the company I was with.  I was ready to do something I really enjoyed.  I knew that the part-time school/full-time work combo would never work for me.  I’d done a few classes through Georgia Tech but I never really enjoyed it.  I missed the school atmosphere.  I needed to be on campus with my fellow students.

I new I didn’t want to leave the mid-west at this point so I narrowed my options to two schools. Purdue University and The University of Michigan.  Purdue was one of my original school choices back in my senior year.  It is a great engineering school.  Michigan, on the other hand, was never a place I considered.  It was MICHIGAN for crying out loud.  We from Notre Dame have some “affectionate” terms for our neighbors to the north that cannot be repeated in polite company.  But, at this point, I was open to the idea since U-M had a really great IE department.

I applied to both schools and was accepted at both schools.  What a relief!  Did I mention that Mr. Brown is from Michigan?  Not just any part of Michigan… he grew up in Ann Arbor!  His mom works for the University.  Both of his parents have undergraduate and Master’s degrees from the University.  The truth is, his parentage didn’t sway my decision.  But I did kind of see the writing on the wall.  If I went to Purdue, Mr. Brown and I would surely break up.  And I wasn’t ready for a break up.  He might come visit once or twice but  certainly things would have fizzled quickly.  That drive down I-65 from Chicago to West Lafayette isn’t exactly the kind of setting for a romantic-comedy. 

If I chose Michigan we might break up.  But there was at least a fighting chance.  Making that drive to A2 across the lower peninsula wasn’t exactly inspiring but at least at the other end of there was someone he might like to see besides me – mostly his older brother who he is very close with.

So I decided on U-M.  It was a great school.  Ranked #3 in Industrial Engineering.  And I might, just might, have a chance of staying together with Mr. Brown.  I was so excited to tell him. 

And what did he say…. “I don’t really want to have a long-distance relationship.  I’ve done that and it didn’t work out very well.”  WHAT?!?  I was shocked.  Yes it was long-distance but this wasn’t the stone ages.  We had e-mail and cell phones and, um, cars to drive the 4.5 hours.  And it was a 1 year commitment on my part.  It wasn’t like I was moving to Siberia for a decade.  I was moving to his HOMETOWN for ONE YEAR!  (yes, the yelling is intentional.  I wanted to slap him upside his head.)

So we decided on “we’ll see how it goes.”  Not exactly the reaction I was hoping for but I could live with it for now.

And for those of you keeping count… this is Mr. Brown’s 3^rd attempt to break up with me.  Poor guy… he really never had a chance.