problem, you need to talk about it,” Wren said.
Two or three months after she’d moved in, the roommates decided to have a party. Kristin sat on Wren’s lap as the guests began to arrive. At one point, she told Wren she felt she was meant to be with him, not Greg, and started to cry.
Ralph and Constance took Greg and Kristin to dinner one night and expressed their concern that neither of them was back in school, informing them that education was important for their futures. Since he’d stopped taking courses at UCSD, Greg had been supporting himself by working at Rush Legal, where he’d also helped Kristin get a job, but it didn’t provide health benefits. Kristin decided to enroll at San Diego State University (SDSU) in the fall, and Greg planned to return to UCSD.
Constance filled out Kristin’s SDSU application for her, purposely omitting her two lousy quarters at Redlands, even though the form required a listing of all previous coursework. She thought her daughter should have a fresh start, and that was that.
When the lease to Greg’s apartment ran out in June 1995, Wren moved to Solana Beach. He still played tennis with Greg and came by the apartment, but they saw less and less of each other. Wren had always admired Greg for believing that if things weren’t going well, he could turn them around. He figured it was Greg’s optimism that made him want to help Kristin. And perhaps a little gullibility as well.
“That’s what made him honest,” Wren said.
Jerome moved out that summer, too. He’d been studying chemistry at UCSD, but he decided to transfer to the University of California, Santa Barbara, which offered better economics courses. His girlfriend and another good friend were also thinking of transferring there, so he was guaranteed a roommate.
Wren and Jerome kept wondering when Greg was going to wake up and see Kristin for what she really was.
That summer Greg told Kristin’s father that he wanted to marry her. But Ralph told Greg he needed to finish college first, so Greg and Kristin settled on getting informally engaged. As much as the Rossums didn’t approve of the couple’s living arrangement, they decided to acknowledge the situation and allowed them to move into another apartment together.
“Kristin loved Greg, and we wanted to help them both to the extent that we could,” Constance recalled.
So, they agreed to pay the rent. They also bought furniture for the couple and a white 1990 Toyota Cressida for Kristin. They were proud of both young people and so pleased that Kristin seemed like her old self again that they happily paid for her tuition, books, clothes, and car insurance. They even threw in a little extra spending money.
Constance took Greg aside and made him promise to tell them if he saw any signs that Kristin was back on drugs. He told her not to worry; he knew what to do. His father was a doctor.
By all accounts, the couple seemed giddy with love, sitting close on the couch and holding hands all the time. Marie, Greg’s mother, described them as lovebirds.
That summer Kristin went with her family for a vacation in the south of France. Every day she would wait by the phone for Greg to call at a prearranged time, and he would follow through, no matter where he was.
Greg waited as best he could to formally propose marriage. Then, on October 25, 1996, he couldn’t wait any longer. The two of them were driving down to Puerto Nuevo, Mexico, to celebrate Kristin’s twentieth birthday with dinner at Lobster Village. As they were driving down the toll road, Kristin opened the glove compartment to store the toll ticket and thought she saw a jewelry box. She was right. After dinner Greg opened the compartment, pulled out an engagement ring, and popped the question. She said yes.
The next day, Kristin drove to her parents’ house in Claremont to show off the ring. The Rossums were happy—cautiously happy—and said they hoped it would be a long
Two or three months after she’d moved in, the roommates decided to have a party. Kristin sat on Wren’s lap as the guests began to arrive. At one point, she told Wren she felt she was meant to be with him, not Greg, and started to cry.
Ralph and Constance took Greg and Kristin to dinner one night and expressed their concern that neither of them was back in school, informing them that education was important for their futures. Since he’d stopped taking courses at UCSD, Greg had been supporting himself by working at Rush Legal, where he’d also helped Kristin get a job, but it didn’t provide health benefits. Kristin decided to enroll at San Diego State University (SDSU) in the fall, and Greg planned to return to UCSD.
Constance filled out Kristin’s SDSU application for her, purposely omitting her two lousy quarters at Redlands, even though the form required a listing of all previous coursework. She thought her daughter should have a fresh start, and that was that.
When the lease to Greg’s apartment ran out in June 1995, Wren moved to Solana Beach. He still played tennis with Greg and came by the apartment, but they saw less and less of each other. Wren had always admired Greg for believing that if things weren’t going well, he could turn them around. He figured it was Greg’s optimism that made him want to help Kristin. And perhaps a little gullibility as well.
“That’s what made him honest,” Wren said.
Jerome moved out that summer, too. He’d been studying chemistry at UCSD, but he decided to transfer to the University of California, Santa Barbara, which offered better economics courses. His girlfriend and another good friend were also thinking of transferring there, so he was guaranteed a roommate.
Wren and Jerome kept wondering when Greg was going to wake up and see Kristin for what she really was.
That summer Greg told Kristin’s father that he wanted to marry her. But Ralph told Greg he needed to finish college first, so Greg and Kristin settled on getting informally engaged. As much as the Rossums didn’t approve of the couple’s living arrangement, they decided to acknowledge the situation and allowed them to move into another apartment together.
“Kristin loved Greg, and we wanted to help them both to the extent that we could,” Constance recalled.
So, they agreed to pay the rent. They also bought furniture for the couple and a white 1990 Toyota Cressida for Kristin. They were proud of both young people and so pleased that Kristin seemed like her old self again that they happily paid for her tuition, books, clothes, and car insurance. They even threw in a little extra spending money.
Constance took Greg aside and made him promise to tell them if he saw any signs that Kristin was back on drugs. He told her not to worry; he knew what to do. His father was a doctor.
By all accounts, the couple seemed giddy with love, sitting close on the couch and holding hands all the time. Marie, Greg’s mother, described them as lovebirds.
That summer Kristin went with her family for a vacation in the south of France. Every day she would wait by the phone for Greg to call at a prearranged time, and he would follow through, no matter where he was.
Greg waited as best he could to formally propose marriage. Then, on October 25, 1996, he couldn’t wait any longer. The two of them were driving down to Puerto Nuevo, Mexico, to celebrate Kristin’s twentieth birthday with dinner at Lobster Village. As they were driving down the toll road, Kristin opened the glove compartment to store the toll ticket and thought she saw a jewelry box. She was right. After dinner Greg opened the compartment, pulled out an engagement ring, and popped the question. She said yes.
The next day, Kristin drove to her parents’ house in Claremont to show off the ring. The Rossums were happy—cautiously happy—and said they hoped it would be a long
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