Zach and I technically "met" at McDonald's in late May 2006. He'd recently graduated from LaHarpe High School where he played on the West Prairie/LaHarpe basketball team. I was a cheerleader for the basketball team, and I'd seen him play before. We never talked before, but we knew "who the other was". Well, that night at McDonald's I'd just gotten off work and stopped in for a late-night snack before heading home. Zach was working the register, and he took my order. We talked lightly, but nothing more than a regular customer-to-employee conversation. I left and headed home (he later told me that he'd watched me walk entirely out the door).
We soon started talking via MSN Messenger and MySpace and made plans to spend time together at Good Hope's annual celebration, Sodbuster Days. We hung out pretty much everyday until we finally started dating on June 11, 2006.
The rest of June and the beginning part of July seemed to fly by. Zach and I tried to spend as much time together as possible because we knew that our time was limited. You see, Zach had enlisted in the United States Army. He was set to leave for basic training on July 12, 2006, just one day after our one month "anniversary". We watched movies, enjoyed Heritage Days, and even visited Fun City with some of his out-of-town family. But that month went by all too fast.
While Zach was in basic training, I wrote him every single day. I would tell him what I did that day, how much I thought about him, and ask him questions about what he was experiencing. Once I started receiving letter from him it was easier to have a conversation back and forth rather than just write, basically, a diary. I also worked on a scrapbook of the pictures we'd taken during our month together. It helped pass the time and gave me an excuse to look at pictures of him without seeming obsessive.
School started and that helped me deal with my spare time, but the days still seemed to drag by. As soon as Zach told me what day he'd be graduating, I made plans with his parents to drive down to Georgia and see him. We drove down to Fort Benning, Georgia at the end of September and I finally got to see my love again! While in Georgia, Zach surprised me with a promise ring, which his mom decided to call a "pre-engagement ring". We dropped him off at Fort Gordon, Georgia for his AIT training and headed back to Illinois.
Zach was able to come home for Christmas that year, and he spent a wonderful two weeks with me and his family and friends. Too soon, though, he returned to Georgia to complete his training.
In April, my junior prom was quickly approaching and I didn't know if I'd have a date. Zach wasn't sure he could leave in order to join me at the dance. However, just days before the dance, he found out that he would have orders to his first permanent duty station and would have time to come home beforehand. Luckily, the days he was able to come home fell right around prom. On April 28, 2007, I got to dance the night away with my soldier in his shining Class-A's.
On May 3, 2007, Zach hopped on a plane and arrived at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. He described to me the wonderful site of the mountains, and I couldn't wait to witness it for myself. We continued to talk daily (often several times a day) and made plans for my mom and I to visit him in July. Little did I know, it would be an extremely memorable trip.
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