Distance relationships are not for everyone. I would not recommend it for anyone to be honest. Being in a long distance relationship with Nathan for such a llooonnnggg time was by far one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. Day after day of counting down until the next time I got to see him seemed like an eternity. But, no matter how far Nathan and I were apart and how much I missed him, I LOVED HIM MORE.
I started dating Nathan my junior year of high school. Prior to my junior year, I knew Nate from running Track and Cross Country,but it was nothing more than that. Nathan asked me to his Senior Prom and from that point on things changed. Nathan was no longer my team mate but now my boyfriend. Everyone told me to not get to attached because he was going to be leaving for boot camp for the USAF come June. The thing is I couldn't change how I felt about him. I wanted to spend every second with him, it didn't matter that he was leaving. Eventually he left for Texas and I was left spending every second alone rather then with him.
While Nate was in boot camp, I promised to write to him everyday...and I did. He actually still has all the letters I wrote to him. I thought by telling him about my day in a letter it was as if I was actually talking to him. I also hoped that me writing would help him get through day to day. Nathan wrote me three letters and called me twice the entire time he was in Texas, which made things hard but, at the same time when I did receive those couple of letters or the phone calls it made everything worth it.
After he graduated from boot camp he went to tech school in Mississippi. At this point things got a little bit better because I was now able to talk to him on the phone almost every night. I still missed him like crazy. As time passed things got harder and harder because I just wanted to hang out with him, but being so far apart kind of made that impossible.
After Mississippi Nate was in California for a little bit. Once he was there it made things really hard because there was a three hour time difference. It is really hard to talk at night because it was his dinner time when it was my bedtime. It never failed though, he would call and I would be up late. But, it didn't matter because when I was talking to him, it seemed like everything was okay in the world. Just hearing the sound of his voice made me feel better.
Once Nathan finally was stationed in Montana, things became real. He was going to be there for the next four years and I was going to be here, going to school at Cal U. Him being so far away and me going to college was a worry on both of us. We trusted each other a hundred percent but, at the same time college changes people. However it didn't change me. I was still completely devoted to being with Nate. No one could even begin to make me feel the way he did.
The summer before my Sophomore year of college Nathan proposed to me. Needless to say I was shocked because I knew it was going to be awhile before I thought we would be getting married. Nathan still had years to put in and I had three more years of college. But, there was no way I was going to say no. I knew I wanted to be with him forever. I just also knew we were going to have to wait until I was done with school before we could get married. Needless to say those three years seemed like forever.
The three years were rough. It was countdown after countdown. Sleepless night after sleepless night. Tears after tears. I missed him so, so much...but, I LOVED HIM MORE. I knew he had an obligation to the Air Force and I had an obligation to earning my degree. As much as I wanted to be with him, I knew that he wasn't going anywhere and I was not looking for anything else, so together we helped each other get through it, even though we were thousands of miles apart.
The day Nathan and I said "I Do" I had many emotions but, one important one was relief. I no longer had to go another day being away from the one person I wanted to be with for the last five years. We were FINALLY together. We worked hard and it was completely worth it. My grandma used to say "all good things come to those who wait" and she couldn't of been more right.
Nathan and I did what a lot of people could never of done. We trusted each other. We sacrificed for each other. We relied on each other. We supported each other. We encouraged each other. We appreciated each other. We did whatever it took to keep our relationship solid. I would never wish a long distance relationship on anybody, but if I would have to do it again to be able to spend the rest of my life with Nathan, I would in a heartbeat!
People say long distance relationships don't work out, but Nathan and I didn't listen to people, we listened to our hearts and our hearts nailed it!!
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