This past weekend was spent with the people I love the most. I drive home nearly every Friday after my last class of the day and spend my time with my boyfriend, my family, my dogs, and my wonderful friends. This doesn’t sound like a typical college student’s life. And in many ways it’s not. I met my boyfriend Alex the day before I moved to my new college town and fell in love almost instantly. Life’s funny like that. I met Alex about a month and half after his first tour in Iraq so I knew deployments and long training missions would be a part of life together. I’ve traded in college parties and much of what comes with the experience to be with Alex, and I have done it happily.

This past Friday I made it to his apartment before he did, set my heavy bags by the floor, picked up the cat and danced around the kitchen floor with her. Then Alex walked up the steps, gave me a kiss, and said, “Let’s take your bags upstairs.” As we walked into his room, he closed the door behind him and when he turned around to face me his face was filled with sadness. I didn’t know what to expect. And then he said it, “I just got word yesterday that we’re deploying Thanksgiving weekend.” My heart dropped and I just stood there until he wrapped me up in his arms. We held one another for a long time and when we let go, we then held each other some more.  I knew this was coming, I thought April though, not so soon, and certainly not during the holidays.

So what now? I grew up with a dad who was a soldier and deployed constantly and a mom who dealt with it with such grace. And I know I can do this too. Initially I thought that he would leave  a month before I graduate and then there would be a long period of transition back to the real world alone. So maybe this is a good thing, as good as something like this can be, and the sooner he leaves the sooner he will be back and we can begin our life together in one place. My eyes are running like faucets as I write this but I find some consolation in these words.  I know that this love is worth the wait.  And by wait, I don’t mean sit around staring out the window and just getting by. I plan to go to Germany for several months, to spend time with my friends, to make new some new ones, to work, to run, to write many, many love letters, to cook, to live, to continue learning, and to love my man through anything.