October 2003.

Deb: "My husband and I were separating so I moved Marie and myself out of our home in Great Mills, MD and into an apartment in Lexington Park.  I believe that the apartment complex used to be call Mayfaire Apartments, but it is now called Park Villa Apartments.  In the building that we lived, we were Apt. #101.  We moved there mid-October.  I was very nervous about moving Marie and myself to an apartment complex.  But after the first night and following weeks, I thought to myself that it's pretty quiet for an apartment.

However, the first of November changed all that.  We had new tenants move into the apartment complex directly above us.  Several nights around midnight and the early hours of the morning, there would a loud thump that would jar me from my sleep followed by someone running in the apartment above my bed.  And then there would be occasional screams.   I was thinking what in the world is going on up there.  After only a few short nights of this continuing, I had to complain to the apartment rental office.

Within a couple of days after complaining, I received a knock on my door.  This guy introduced himself as the tenant in Apt. 201.  He stated that he had received a noise complaint from the rental office that a neighboring tenant (didn't know who), so he wanted to personally apologize to the tenants around him for noise, explaining he just moved in and that he had a 5-year-old son that was pretty loud and active."

George: "My son and I were living in Hagerstown, MD after moving from our North Carolina home in 2002.  Unfortunately, that job only last around a year before they announced that layoffs were coming.  Hagerstown is in West Maryland.  I begin looking for a new job before announcements were made to make sure I had a job somewhere.  I found a company on the coast of Maryland with a job posting that I was a very good fit.  Perfect timing, I thought, and Maryland isn't that big of a state, I should be able to commute from our duplex in Hagerstown and not have to move.  Wrong.  That job was in Lexington Park, MD . . . 138 miles away!  The company in Lexington Park made an offer, I got laid off from job in Hagerstown, so . . . Landon and I moved to Lexington Park at the end of October with my job starting November 3, 2003.

Within about week or so, I received a noise complaint letter from the rental office.  I was thinking, shit, my neighbors are already complaining and we just moved in.  I didn't think we were that loud but I wanted to "mend" any fences because I didn't want to be viewed as a bad neighbor.  So, I started going door to door of all the adjacent apartments to mine to apologize.  I figured that the neighbor below me was probably the one that complained, so I started there first.  I knocked on the door and this lady answered.  I introduced myself, indicating to her that I had received a complaint notice, and apologized to her not knowing if she was indeed the one that complained.  I informed her that since our two-bedroom apartments only has a bathtub for the master bedroom, I gave my son the master bedroom and I took the guest bedroom with a full bath with a shower only.  He wasn't old enough to take showers at that point.  And he slept in a bunkbed on the top bunk and would often jump down rather than use the ladder.  She was nice, accepted my apology, and indicated that it was indeed her that filed the complaint."

From that point they would often run into each other going and coming from work and picking up our kids from school.  The conversations started short and pleasant and quickly became longer and intimate in nature.  One particular day (can't remember the day), Deb was cleaning her Ford Explorer in the parking lot.  George noticed her so he walked up and started a conversation which was usual by this point.  As the conversation ended, he walked back to his apartment . . . but this time he stopped and wondered if she would be interested in having dinner with me.  So, he turned around and went back to her and asked . . . she said yes, she would.

They introduce their kids.  Marie would come upstairs to visit Landon and play video games, go outside to the small playground, or watch a movie.  Landon would go downstair and expose Deb to his "energy level".  They started taking the kids to movies and dinners, but they weren't yet a couple.  Just two single parents spending time together.

In December 2004, George took a new job and moved to Burke, Virginia.  Deb and Marie would move out of the apartment in Lexington Park by May 2005 and move to Prince Frederick, MD to be closer to the cross-stitching store that her parents, Dave and Janet Clark, had newly opened.  Deb left her dental hygienist position to work for her Mom.  

During this time, Deb would come visit on some weekends when Marie was at her Dad's.  We also kept in touch by phone and email.  It wasn't until July 13, 2005 that George finally asked Deb if she would be interested in "officially" dating him . . . . again, she said yes.  :)  So, now you see the significance of the date.

By 2006, they got tired of the long distance and decided to move in together and as Deb's rental lease on her apartment in Prince Frederick was coming due.  George was renting month-to-month at that point, so Landon and George moved in with Deb and Marie into their Prince Frederick apartment for about 5 weeks (as the lease was ending) to look for a better option.  They found one in Chesapeake Beach, MD.  They started discussing and planning for their weddin, but other things would become the priority, and the wedding would move to the "back burner".

• Dave and Janet's cross-stitching store would close
• Landon's soccer ($$$)
• Marie's (and Brian's) wedding
• Marie going/graduating from college
• Landon going/graduating from college
• Deb graduating from college
• George graduating from college
• Buying our first house