There are only three things that change a person, promises, love, and death.
Promise

When I stepped outside the cold wind hit my face, the feel of Christmas is around and it brings a sense of joy. I shuffle to my car in knee deep snow and gently brush the snow off. Once inside I start the car and turn on the radio. On my way to work I see people moving from store to store trying to get last minute shopping done before all the kids were let out from school. I pull into the parking lot of Joes Shack. I get out of the car and as I walk through the door all my staff members greet me. I take off my coat. Then after arriving minutes earlier I am on my way to my first table.

“Hi, I am Payton I am going to be your server today. Is there anything I can start you off with, maybe something to drink?” This is how I would talk to most of my tables for the rest of the day. The day went by fast and everything went by as normal.

It was getting late out and a group of boys came in. It was just another table till one of the boys thought it would be fun to make a bet with his friends to get my number. As I walked back to the table with the drinks the boy asked and of course I didn’t give it to him. I thought I would have some fun first. I covered up my name plate with my hand and smiled.

“What’s my name?” As the boy thought about it, I walked away. He didn’t say anything more to me for the rest of the night. I felt bad so I wrote my number on the back of his check and wrote ‘don’t forget its Payton ;)’. The boys left and while I was cleaning the table he had left a napkin with writing on it. ‘I promise I will call you – Alex’


Two Years Later
Love

It only seemed like weeks but we were already getting married. As the limo pulled up in the Baptist Church I couldn’t believe that this was my life that it was happening to me. As I stepped out of the limo my long dress in the way making me stumble. As I looked up my dad stood at the door smiling. I had told myself that I wasn’t going to cry but it almost seemed impossible. As my bridesmaids and flower girl went through the door my dad looked at me and gave me a wink.

“I never thought this day would come I always thought you were going to be my little girl.”

“Daddy I will always be your little girl,” and gave him a small kiss. This was in a whisper I couldn’t say it any louder because my voice would have cracked.

“You ready?” He looked into my eyes and studied them. I shook my head and he opened the door. “I can tell you’re in love.” He grabbed my arm and we were already walking down the aisle before I even had time to respond. Once we made it to the end of the aisle my dad handed me off to Alex.

He leaned over and whispered in his ear, “You are a lucky man.” Then smiled and went to his seat. It was always like my dad to put in the last thought.

The rest of the wedding went on smoothly and after the reception we went to the airport to leave for our honey moon. Hawaii was a long flight and would give us plenty time to talk.

As we boarded the plane Alex leaned over and kissed me, “I love you.”

“I love you to hun.”
4 Years Later
Death


Alex had been sick with the flu and had stayed home for the past week. I was starting to get worried. He had insisted he was fine but out of my better judgment I called the doctors. They ran a lot of test and said everything looked fine.
“Just the normal flu but we will still send in his blood to get it tested,” the doctor said in a reassuring voice but in a way it wasn’t. Alex gave me the ‘I told you so’ face just because he could.
The next day Alex felt better and was back to work for the next few weeks everything would be perfect.
The telephone rang, “Hello.”
“Hi this is Doctor Delaney we got Alex’s test results in and would like you and him to come in we have some news.”
“Okay sounds good do I need to set up an appointment?” I asked not sure what he was talking about ‘we have some news’.
“No just come in as soon as possible.”
“Okay we will be there in about an hour.”
“See you then Payton.”
“Okay goodbye.” I hung up the phone and set it on the table. I thought about what the doctor had said, I picked the phone back up and called Alex. Once I told Alex what the doctor said he came home from work and we drove down to the hospital together. I think it was me who was more scared then him.

When we pulled into the parking lot and parked the car. He looked over and smiled.
“What’s the matter?” He paused because he already knew the answer, “Don’t worry everything will be fine.”
“I know.” I managed a small smile and then unbuckled my seat and got out of the car. It seemed like hours that we waited in the waiting room when Doctor Delaney came out. He asked to come back and we went into his office.
“Please sit,” He gestured toward the chairs and Alex and me sat, neither of us spoke. “I am glad you could come down here so fast. But I am afraid I have bad news.” Me and Alex looked at each other. “I am afraid Alex has cancer.”
The drive home after that was silent neither one of us knowing what to say to each other. It seemed like my life had just begun and know my loves life was coming to an end. The doctor said he had a month at tops.
“Everything happens for a reason.” He said this as we sat down on the couch and that’s when I started to cry he wiped away the tears and kissed my forehead.
2 Weeks later
Alex was put on extreme care, the doctor had told me he was weak and it wouldn’t be much longer. I went back into the room and sat next to him he reached for my hand and gripped it tight.
“I know I don’t have a lot of time left.” He paused and managed to smile, “But one thing I will never forget is your name.” This only made me cry harder and for the next several minutes we just sat in silence. Then his hand let go of mine and went limp.
He was gone and when he left he took some of me with him.