Wallflower Inc.

20 March 2019
Volume 1, Issue 1

The Life of Sam

(over this last year)

January 1st, 2018,18th Birthday

Last year in January, I, Sa-
Inside this issue: mantha Alexander, turned 18
years old, celebrating my
Marching Band Sen- 2 birthday on New Years Eve by
ior Night taking a day trip to Payson,
Arizona with my friends Hana
Prom 2 and Dennis and my boyfriend
of 1 year, Justin. We visited
Graduation 2 all the quaint little shops,
went for a nature walk, and
Justin Leaves for the 3 watched the boot drop at
Army midnight. As all of my friends
said,” Happy New Year!” they
Justin’s Mom Leaves 4 followed it with, “Happy
for Virginia
birthday, Sam!” On that day, I
Starting College 5 felt lots of love and was given
many hugs. Even though it
Winter Break 6 was not celebrated in the
way I usually celebrate my
birthday: a rambunc-
tious New Years Eve
party at my house with
all of my friends of any
degree, sitting around
the fire in the backyard
drinking hot chocolate
and talking about what
it will be like to gradu-
ate high school. I still had lot
of fun on our spontaneous
trip. My life was going pretty
good at that moment, but of
course, as all lives go awry,
mine would soon. What’s to
follow are stories of the big
events that have occurred in
my life in the year since I
turned 18.

Special points of in-

terest:
• United States Army

• Romance and Heart-

break Valentines Day
• Virginia
On Valentine’s Day, my I had
• Making New Friends planned a cute picnic for my
• Graduating High boyfriend and I to go on that
School night at Sahuaro Ranch Park. I
• Prom promised him I would make
all the food if he would just
come pick me up, since at the
time, I did not have a car.
Now, these were last minute
plans because we had not
really talked about Valen-
tine’s day before that. So I
had to work with the time I
had after school. I decided to
make soup because we had
plastic bowls I could bring,
but I used the wrong flour
and it went wrong. And of
course, it began to rain. I was
very disappointed in myself
and my soup but Justin
picked me up and we had to
picnic in his car in the Sahua-
ro parking lot. He said he
Page 2 The Life of Sam (over this last
year)
Marching Band Senior Night
Senior night is something
every senior in any type of
organization looks forward to
throughout their high school
career. It is the night where
you get to write a little bit
about how your experience
was in that organization, who
you would like to thank for
helping you through high
school, and what you will be
doing with your future. In
Marching Band, which was
like one big family of 260
Prom
I struggled with the idea of
Prom because my family was
“Finally, I opened up to broke and I did not think I
my friend about my could find a dress that was
impossible situation
and she knew someone
cheap and also that I loved.
who could fix it.” But guess what, I didn’t. I
picked out a strapless long
red dress that flared out at
the bottom. Initially, it sound-
ed very flattering, but when I
Graduation Night
This was the night I graduat-
ed high school. It was an end-
ing to a chapter kept begging
to come for the last four
years, but now that it was
here, I did not feel ready. I
spent the entire day getting
ready, picking out a black and
red lacey dress with gold out-
people at Ironwood High
School, senior night was al-
ways the saddest, most lova-
ble day of the year. Lower
classmen must say farewell to
their friends in the senior
class, but also become excit-
ed for their time to come.
And seniors, I learned that
night, have to say farewell to
all of their high school
friends, and understand just
how much they affected the
lives of their peers in March-
put it on, it was too long.
Now, this is not the dresses
fault. I am 5’2, so of course it
was too long on me. I
searched hard for an inexpen-
sive tailor but truth be told,
they do not exist. Finally, I
opened up to my friend
about my impossible situa-
tion and she knew someone
lines that held a sort of re-
naissance vibe. When I ar-
rived at the Cardinals Stadi-
um, cap and gown in full, I
could feel my excitement
boiling over. Of course, the
ceremony felt long and gruel-
ing as the principal made the
same speech he makes al-
Volume 1, Issue 1
ing Band. As I walked on the
track, being escorted by my
parents, and the announcer
read my name and my small
speech, my Marching Band
friends screamed “Sam! We
love you!” Marching Band
was my favorite thing about
high school. It was the hard-
est thing I have been a part of
to say goodbye to. But I was
excited to come back to the
games to see the lower class-
man thrive.
who could fix it. But then my
friend was so excited about
prom that she asked to do my
hair and makeup. I reluctantly
agreed, but I looked nothing
like I wanted to at the end.
Still, my boyfriend and I took
silly pictures that I still regret
exist but we went to Prom
and had a wonderful night.
most every year, followed by
other boring staff members.
But when I got outside I was
greeted by my family and
Justin’s with flowers and pic-
tures and tears. This was it. I
had finally made it.
The Life of Sam (over this last
year)
Justin Leaves for the Army
Justin and I had been togeth-
er for a year and a half the
day he left for the army. I
knew since we began dating
that those were his plans
after high school, but since
January, the six months we
still had together seemed to
fly by faster than any other
bout of time had in my life.
We talked long before the
day that he left about what
that would mean for our rela-
tionship. It felt as though
Justin’s Mom Leaves for Virginia
I spent the Summer after Jus-
tin left for the army helping
his mom, Holli, move, attend-
ing Justin’s family summer
parties, and hanging out with
Justin’s sister, Amber, and her
boyfriend, Devon. His family
treated me more like part of
the family than mine ever
had. I made many new
Starting College
I always believed that even if
couples stay together after
high school, they should not
give up their dreams to follow
each other to where the oth-
er one is headed. So instead
of going to community col-
lege for two years waiting
until Justin was stationed so I
each side had major pros and
cons, but when it came down
to it, even though long dis-
tance relationships are noto-
rious for not working out, we
cared about each other too
much not to try to make it
work. Of course, when some-
one begins in the army they
start with basic training,
meaning the only contact
they receive to the outside
world are letters and they can
only make a few phone calls
friends that summer. Justin’s
family friends Kathy and Ron
had daughters, one who was
also named Sam. We became
friends and went to the gym
together. Justin’s sister and I
often talked about the type
of houses we would like to
own and the future, and
where we would like to live,
could go live with him once
he was, I decided to attend
university. I got into ASU in
March and I felt all the excite-
ment coming up over sum-
mer as I bought all the things
I planned to decorate my
room with. But when I actual-
ly got here, it was much scari-
Volume 1, Issue 1 Page 3
throughout the 2 months but
mostly they get letters too.
We wrote consistently and
missed each other just the
same but I spent the rest of
the summer still trying to get
excited for high school and
helping his mom move out of
their house (see story below).
His mom and I quickly be-
came best friends, but I also
had to prepare for the day
she was to move to Virginia.
It was a sad summer indeed.
which was not in Virginia
where Justin’s mom was
moving, unfortunately. Devon “His family treated me
taught me how to cook. I more like part of the
family than mine ever
watched horror movies with had.”
Holli. The moral of this story
is, even if Justin wanted to
get rid of me, his family
would never let him because
they love me.
er than I had planned. It took
me months to make friends
and integrate myself into the
college. But once I had, noth-
ing was stopping me!.
 Photo Citations
Wallflower Inc.
Page 1

Photo of me:

Address: Taken by me
9628 N. 47th Ave.
Page 2
Phone Number:
1800-thewallflowerinc Photo on Senior Night:

Taken by Hana Turko. Permission of use granted.

Page 3
Were on the web!
Photo of Justin and I:
Thewallflower.com
Taken by Dawn Alexander. Permission of use granted

Photo of my College Friend Ranya:

Taken by me

Page 4

Photo of Justin and I:

thewallflower
Taken by Michael Yarbrough. Permission of use grant-

Winter Break
Winter break was something I
had been looking forward to
since Justin told me her was
going to be granted some
holiday break leave. He only
had 2 weeks away from the
army, and unfortunately
since his mom now lives in
Virginia and his dad and I and
some of Justin’s other family
lives here in Arizona, he had
to break up the weeks. He
chose to spend Christmas in
Virginia with his mom and
come here for New years and
my birthday. That entire
week I got to drive Justin
around since he wasn’t really
allowed to drive and he had
also sold me his car before
he left so he did not have a
vehicle to drive. I had no
concept of time throughout
the entire week because
everything felt so surreal.
Justin was staying at his
dad’s house but I was there
early every morning and
late every night. I got very
little time to sleep because
Justin had made plans to
see his grandparents and
cousins and family friends,
all of which I was thankfully
invited to. It was the best
winter break I had ever had!