You'll always be my Lunch Girl!
Monday, February 26th, 2018 , by Eric Martin
When we first met I never thought she was going to be something more than another random person in my life. At the time I was the lead vocalist for a Hard Rock band called Naked Sky and I was being introduced to new people all of the time. As a matter of fact she claims that I don't even remember the actual first time we met, which was before one of my shows. Sorry babe! However time passed and since we ran with a lot of the same people at the time, we ended up becoming good friends.
At this point in our friendship I was talking to her alot on an a now ancient communication service, MySpace Messenger (ah the good ol days). I was supposed to be working but I found myself more interested in what she had to say than whatever boring AutoCAD drawings or data entry I had to do that day. We would often make lunch plans together and go eat at a Mexican food restaurant close to where I worked. I didn’t know it at the time but these lunches were sometimes the only decent meal she was going to get to eat. As the weeks turned into months I kept getting questioned by my Dad and Stepmom about the mysterious woman I kept going to lunch with. “So when are we going to get to meet Lunch Girl?” they would ask. I would never go into much detail other than to tell them she was a friend. I wanted to keep it private. I liked her, a lot, and I didn’t exactly have very good luck with women. On top of that she was in a relationship, basically I was trying to get out of the “friend zone.”
More time passed and one night we ended up going to a pool hall as friends. I remember the night well, because for one I played the absolute WORST pool of my life that night (she sucked too by the way), and two I decided I was going to make her my girlfriend someday. Something about that night really changed it for me, and in a way I felt that it did for her too. It gave me what I needed to wait it out and see what happened without really pursuing anyone else. Fortunately for me I didn’t have to wait for too long.
Fast forward not too far and we’re together at a new year’s show (New Years 2008….good lord almost 10 years ago). Incidentally this was the last show I ever played with Naked Sky or anyone else for that matter. We hadn’t made anything official at this point because she had just broken up with her ex-boyfriend, but I consider us to have been dating since then.
The first time I told her that I loved her she had convinced me to dress up with her as The Scarecrow and me as the Tin Man for a fundraised event called Raising the Roof for Habitat for Humanity in Longview. Our job was to bartend, which by the way is super fun to do when you wearing an uncomfortable costume, a bald cap, and silver paint all over your face. Once we ran out of margaritas to serve we got to actually have some fun. Towards the end of the event we were dancing together and that’s when I told her, “I love you.” I’ll never forget that moment.
We continue to progress our relationship, we move in together, get engaged, eventually we get married (April 24th 2010), and even got to go on an amazing honeymoon. We were both so happy and nothing could bring us down. On October 22nd 2010 we got into a bad car accident and Jessica’s back wad injured pretty badly. She ended up losing her job and was in severe pain for months after the accident. Luckily we had good friends and family to help us through this tough time and we slowly recovered.
Jessica soon informed me that we were going to have a baby, and I have to admit I didn’t handle it very well. Let’s just say I was shocked and overwhelmed by the thought of being a father, a story for another day. Her pregnancy went very well and she seemed to have more energy than normal. We didn’t think too much of it at the time she just assumed that other women were just wusses and moved on about her day. It wasn’t until after Trey was born that we knew something was wrong. As each month passed she had less and less energy. One of her best friends passed away and she dove into it head first trying to do anything and everything she could to help out everyone that was affected. Needless to say it took a lot out of her. It wasn’t long after that, that she started dropping Trey’s bottles, then on November 3rd 2012 she woke up and went to stand up and fell down because she couldn’t feel her legs. After hours in the ER and in her hospital room we got answers, she had this thing called Multiple Sclerosis which I had heard of but knew nothing about. One Google search later and I was freaked out and didn’t know what to do, how can I make this better? You see at this point in our lives I had just agreed to take a new job in Beaumont. Everything was changing all at once and I felt like out lives were being ripped apart. Soon after Jessica was sent off to TIRR in Houston my stepmother Lisa passed away. Jessica wasn’t able to come to the funeral or be with the family. This took a toll on her because her normal roll is to be the rock, the person that gets things done, the person that is there. That experience was a good introduction into our new lives and how things had changed.
Fortunately for everyone Jessica isn't the type of person to let things get her down for long and soon she had gotten through her TIRR rehabilitation and was home. It was a bit of a rough transition, I had started a new job in Beaumont and we had packed and moved our old house while she was still at TIRR. She dove into as many support groups that she could join and was constantly reading, she somehow managed to remain positive during this whole ordeal. I don't know anyone that would have been able to handle all of the curve balls that she had been thrown and still be such a positive and upbeat person. She is truly someone that I admire, and I aspire to be more like her.
So much more has happened to us even since that point. Trey was diagnosed as autistic, and in December of 2015 she had another MS exacerbation that disabled her right leg and has forced her to rely on a power chair to get around. However, despite all of this she still remains positive, caring, and loving. Words can't describe how much I love this woman. She and Trey are why I get up every day ready to face the world. She is my strength my inspiration my life, my love.
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