Tag: Long Distance

With headline writing inspiration props to Louis C.K…
The drive to the airport was mostly a silent one.
“What are you going to do when you get back?” she asked.
“I dunno. Guess I need to get some food for the week.”
“These trips to the airport suck.”
“Yeah they do.”
“But it only means it is that much sooner that we can see each other again.”
I was the eternal optimist. But the back and forth travel alone surely did suck.
One time the plane back to Denver kept getting delayed as I sat waiting for my return flight home. It was going on two hours delayed when I texted, “I think you should come get me. The plane is really late. They are looking for a pilot.”
She texted back jokingly, “I am on my way!” But, I seriously was going to have her come pick me up and take me back to her place if the flight was totally cancelled. After all, it was the last flight to Denver for that day. The thought of one more night together was making me want to tell her the flight was cancelled even if it wasn’t.
What happens when two people meet, hit if off, but they live 1,000 miles apart? They engage in a long distance relationship. At least that’s what we did.

We met online like a lot of folks do, but there was the difference in geography that was going to be the most difficult thing we would have to deal with and consider. It was going to require a lot of patience, creativity and lots of Skyping when we were not actually physically together.
We agreed to try to see each other every six weeks on average. We felt that was as long as we could reasonably stand the separation. To be clear, long distance relationships are not for any couple that is not truly committed to an “end game” as it were—the chance to one day be together all the time.
So we carried on for over a year’s time, her coming to see me and then me going to see her. Before long, and near the end, I started coming to see her more. We had a continuous dialogue about where we might end up. We wondered if it would be where she resided, where I did, or someplace else altogether. One thing was for sure, though, and that was the feeling (from the very beginning) that we were meant to be together.
Knowing things would eventually work out, we went through our daily lives separated from one another. While difficult, it was comforting knowing we had each other to look forward to again and again.

But each trip back to our respective homes grew increasingly difficult. As we got into late summer, the feeling of being with her in her home, and it feeling like home to me had taken grip. I was thinking about staying one more winter at my long time home, but with fall approaching, wanting to be with her for the holidays was a feeling I couldn’t shake, nor did I want to.
“These separations suck,” she said one day while laying on my couch.
“Yeah they do.”
“Flying alone sucks, too,” I concluded.
Now that we are married and together, though, flying no longer sucks.
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