Chapter 3Eli, Theresa, Wesley, Anne, and Theodore
The ink on my degree was barely dry, but suddenly, this new beginning I was supposed to envision was overshadowed by the indelible image of what I was leaving behind. The three years prior, summer meant following Casey out to California, where his home life was every bit as chaotic as he’d described. A houseful of screeching, laughing, fighting, often loving but definitely troubled people was foreign to me, yet I was welcomed into the bedlam with open arms. Somehow, Casey and I found plenty of alone, quiet time to have s*x or just sleep. Alone time with Casey was pleasant. As I adjusted to summer 2001 in New York, with Casey out west to work on his PhD at Caltech, I quickly discovered alone time without him was just lonely.
In July, I rel
