High school graduation was easy. I knew I would be going to college, I knew what I would be majoring in and I knew where life was going. Life was so simple then. I always knew one day that life would not be so simple, so easy. Who knew that day would hit me in the face like a ton of bricks all at once?

It all started about three months ago. My boyfriend had been looking for a job, and his friend mentioned a company called Consona where he worked. The job sounded neat and exciting, so my boyfriend applied. After what seemed like an endless series of phone interviews, the company offered him a trip to Boston for a face-to-face interview. We were both so excited – it was the first opportunity he had ever had to fly and to visit Massachusetts.

Even as I watched him pass through security, as he turned and waved goodbye, as he boarded the plane and soared through the air until the plane disappeared, I still didn’t get it. It still hadn’t hit me how my life was about to change. So I waved goodbye to him and stood at a window watching the airplane, even long after it had disappeared.

When he returned, he was exhausted, but nonetheless he sat there in the passenger’s seat as I drove him home and told me every detail of every minute from the time his plane took off up until he returned. The whole experience was such an adventure for him, and working for Consona now seemed to be what his sights were set on.

But he would have to move to Boston. Boston?! Initially I was frantic. We had been dating for four years, and I couldn’t stand the thought of being 14 hours away from him. I couldn’t follow him until after I graduate in December, so the idea of not seeing him for months bothered me.

Soon, however, I warmed to the idea of Boston. For some time I had grown restless living in Tennessee, so Boston began to seem like a great way to get out and see the rest of the country. At least it was the same time zone. Of course things couldn’t stay that simple.

One particular day, as my boyfriend endured yet another phone interview, he was introduced with the option of working at the division of the company located in Seattle, Wash. Yes, that is Washington the state, not the nation’s capital. Needless to say, I panicked.

I could handle the 14-hour driving distance between Johnson City and Boston. I could handle only being able to see him every month or so. I could not handle Washington. The thought of such a drastic change devastated me. I thought maybe I could talk him out of going to Washington. Maybe I could persuade him that Boston was just better.

Unfortunately for my argument, the pros of going to Washington clearly outweighed the cons. His friend who works for Consona lives in Seattle, so he wouldn’t be alone in his new life. He would have somewhere to stay until he could get settled and find his own apartment. The division in Seattle is also where everyone goes to train, so he wouldn’t have to fly from Boston to Seattle for his orientation and training.

But my selfish thoughts continued to whine in my head, “But what about me?”

What about me? I still had no idea what I wanted to do “when I grow up.” I would have to decide whether I would to move to Washington with my boyfriend after graduation, or if I would stay at home. I have never wrestled with something so much in my entire life.

Here it is, the day where everything becomes more complicated. Like a ton of bricks in the face. Not only did I have to worry about actually surviving until graduation and what my career would be afterward, but now I had to figure out where I would be those days, months and years after I walked across the stage. Suddenly I wasn’t looking forward to graduation as much as I had before.

Monday was the last phone call from Consona. They told him what his benefits and salary would be, and they gave him the option of starting work Nov. 5 or Nov. 12. He decided that Nov. 12 would give him enough time to get loose ends tied and to pack up his stuff.

In a month, he will be gone. No more running out to Wal-Mart at midnight to grab frozen dinners and to look at video games. No more visits from him that always brighten my day at work. No more lazy days of sitting around watching TV for hours on end. No more calling him whenever I feel like hearing his voice. Life is going to change so much.

Since that first mention of moving to Seattle, I have warmed to the idea. I realize that I don’t have to follow him wherever he goes, but being with him makes me happy. Four wonderful years with him has convinced me that he is worth following anywhere.

Besides, I think I will have more opportunities for a successful career there compared to Johnson City.
I have also come to terms with the ton of bricks in my face. Sure my life is about to change, and that change has come fast.

I won’t have the comforts and familiar routine that school affords, but life after graduation isn’t something to be feared.

It’s an adventure; it’s what we have been preparing for all along. And even though we might not feel prepared to deal with a ton of bricks in the face, deep inside ourselves each of us knows exactly what to do with those bricks – build something.