So as you know from the past two parts of my relationship series. I have a boyfriend. I'm probably not going to go into detail about his job, but he's in the military and stationed out in California. If you're in the military, I am sure you can guess... Anyway, we first met in St. Louis, MO, where we are both from and grew up. After college, he was stationed at a few bases before going overseas and stationed around Asia for two years. He returned almost a year ago to be stationed in Cali. I left for college in Charleston, SC and continued on for grad school. I just moved back to the Midwest, as I am in my doctoral program at Mizzou, so I live in Columbia, MO. Being across a country from each other and 3 time zones away, sucked. Our first five months, I stayed up super late to Skype, text, or talk to him on the phone. Mostly Skype. We saw each other once a month for a few days of an extended weekend. He met my family, I met his. When we first started talking, it seemed like it was a non-starter of a relationship. He was across the country from me. Well, five days after we started talking, he booked a flight to see me in Charleston. The following month, I booked a flight to see him. I knew I loved him early on. We had very similar interests and outlooks, although he is a lot more positive than me. We figured if we saw each other once a month it wasn't so bad. Except we haven't seen each other since April 28th. Between my graduation, drill, his changing jobs, my new job, my move, etc. There has been no time and no money to spare for a trip to see each other. It's tough. Skype and 'I love you' texts only go so much. I've been in long distance before, and it all came screaming back how much it sucks. But at the end of each day, do I think its worth it? Yes. It's not forever, at least I hope. I try to be supportive but still have a life outside of my relationships. We both have our own routines and lives and we always make time for the other. In a few weeks, he is coming to St. Louis and driving with me to NC to see my great grandfather for his 102nd birthday. Then we are going to VA and Michigan for a wedding. 10 full days together! Every time I see him, I get nervous that it wont feel the same, but we pick up where we left off. I'm not saying that long distance is easy and some days I don't think its manageable or even doable. But those fears and doubts are usually suffocated by knowing I love him and he loves me. And that taking things slow and enjoying each other's company, not trying to speed up our lives, is something I am interested in.
He's kind of amazing. I'm very lucky.
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