The Long Goodbye

So Shaun arrived in Chicago tonight to begin his 8 week long stay at boot camp. He was supposed to leave last Thursday, August 23rd, but storms in Chicago prevented that. His departure was then rescheduled to Friday evening, and that flight was canceled because of storms here in Detroit. So then he stayed the weekend (which was fun because he and his fam came to my birthday dinner on Sunday night), and finally left today on a 4 o'clock flight. The whole ordeal was exhausting for me and his family -- we said goodbye on Wednesday night, then again on Thursday night, and then the last goodbye last night, but it was longer for Shaun, who probably spent over 20 hours sitting at Metro Airport over the weekend.

It's odd how they say that absence makes the heart grow fonder. I feel like the mere anticipation of his absence made my heart grow fonder. It made me realize some things about what has been happening between us lately, the most important one being that I am still crazy in love with him. Another being that I am really, incredibly proud of him for joining the Navy Reserve. Yet another being that he is still the only man that I have ever met that honestly understands me, encourages me, supports me, calls me on my bullshit, makes me laugh, laughs at my dumbass jokes, can talk with me for hours, can shut the hell up with me for hours, loves my family to death, and holds my hand through absolutely everything. And also that while he made some mistakes (as did I), he is learning from those mistakes and genuinely trying to do better, and that is something that not many people can do.

I am going to miss him more than I can say while he is away the next few weeks. I have so much new stuff going on -- new job at United Way for Southeastern Michigan (which is AWESOME!), starting school at Wayne State on September 6th. New people, new places... a lot of things I know I'd love to talk to him about and he'd love to hear about. But then again, this does give me an excuse to write letters. And you guys know how much I love that!

So for now I will just keep my head down, go to work, get ready for school, save my money, and break out the pen and paper to write to my boy while he is busting his ass in boot camp.