Second, I know how you feel. I was there, so trust me on what I am about to tell you.
You can probably remember the day he told you that he was even thinking about joining & I am sure your heart skipped about two thousand beats. His enlistment day came & he told you the day he was leaving. You made a countdown probably named "My Love Leaves..." & tried to make every moment of the next however many days count. But no matter how hard you prayed & wished it wouldn't come, it came.
Whether he is gone for 8 weeks or 13, it stinks. It is a test of your relationship to say the least. No matter the strength, it is taxing. The day he leaves will be your worst day, I am sorry to say. Your eyes will be red & puffy most of the day, but then you fall asleep (probably still crying) & you wake up to your new reality. You spend the next months stalking the mailman & making sure your phone is always on full volume just in case that precious call ever comes. I would be lying if I said I wasn't beyond happy it is over for me. But, I did learn a lot. Not only about myself & what I like to do with my time that doesn't involve my better half, but I also learned a lot about our relationship & how much value it holds.
The most bizarre thing about basic & boot camp is that you don't even get to have contact with him, yet you find yourself falling more in love with him. Every letter makes you cry happy tears while you're trying to studying every sweet word carefully. Then your countdown hits single digits & your faced with the day you have been counting to for months: The Day of Reunion.
You bought your plane ticket, your hotel, your perfect outfit for him to see you again & as you're on the way, there are a million things running through your mind. "Does he still love me?" "Will he still even think I'm cute?" The day comes & you are a puddle of butterflies & happy tears as you see them walking out to be dismissed. Then, they're finally dismissed after what feels like years & you see the crowd break & through hundreds of people you see the person you have waited all this time for. I can't begin to describe how the first hug feels. Every fear & doubt you had melts away as you feel his embrace more intensely than you ever did before.
The day zooms by faster than the blink of an eye. & in the next few days, he will be off on his next adventure. You won't be able to make a countdown to the next time you see him, because you don't know. But I promise, it ends. It will end & every hardship & every late-night-time-zone-affected phone call & all the zip codes between you will be no more. & you made it. I never knew I could do this, but I am & I know you can too.
To the girl whose boyfriend is leaving, it will end & it is so beyond worth it.
-KS
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