Visit number 2 down

Babe came home again last weekend to help celebrate his dad's 60th birthday. (His mom was talking about helping him celebrate his 30th birthday and that kind of blew my mind...they've been together for over 30 years! Seems like such a long time! But they still seem so young to me...)

Anyway, it was just as amazing to see him as the first time. It seems like March kind of flew, but while it was happening it was painfully slow. It was also crazy to think that we are past the second visit. I remember talking about planning for the first three or so months long before Babe left, thinking I couldn't even imagine what April would be like, and here we are!

I spent a lot of timing pondering what it means to actually "miss" someone. It's not like we don't talk and interact everyday....but there is just something about actually seeing and be able to hold and hug and touch the person you love that makes it so much different. It's hard to describe, and each time I see him it doesn't feel real. Just when I get used to it, he has to leave again.

The leaving part got me harder this time than the first two. Why? I'm not really sure. But we spent some time talking about the next four months and visits, and ultimately decided for financial, scheduling/work, and emotional reasons, to go 8 weeks between visits. I am going to DC the 3rd of June (we scored some uber cheap plane tickets!!), and this will most likely be the next time we see each other. All I can think is two months. Eight weeks...it seems like forever. Impossible. But at the same time, that's two more months out of the way. Without the sadness of another visit, wishing he could stay.

Things are still ok and we are making it through. I'm still shocked by it, having to remind myself that I feared this for so long and now we are actually doing it, and doing it pretty well, even though it's not an ideal situation at all. It's bringing us closer together. Sticking it out for each other; me so he can have this awesome experience, and him for me so we can someday move to another city without him questioning whether or not he'd want to do that. I'm so proud of him for doing that and doing it well, for surprising himself that he can live away from what he's used to and actually enjoy it. And then I feel like the luckiest girl in the world when I remember he did that for me, because he knows living outside the Midwest someday is important to me, and he wants to do whatever he can to help make that happen.