Monday, July 9, 2012

Bridging the Gap With My (Not So) Distant Lover

The countdown to the end of my long distance relationship has started. In just mere hours, my love will make her move to The H. I'm so stoked and excited about us being in the same city. Honestly, I never thought it would come to this. No, no, don't get it twisted. I figured I would end up moving to be with her because I don't really do new friends, so being in a new city wouldn't be so jarring to me.

I think back to when we first decided to be in a relationship. The distance never scared me. I wasn't fond of not being able to hold her after a long day or not being able to tickle her until she exploded in laughter. I didn't care for not being able to take her out for ice cream or go on a Grippo's(those BBQ chips are the TROOF)  run. Never once was I afraid of the miles between us. Truthfully, I was scared of today.

I was afraid that once Rand McNally placed us in the same grid, things wouldn't be the same. It petrified me that either one of us could say "I miss you" and not have to wait weeks till we could do anything about it. Once you take that LD out of LDR, it's a whole new ball game. Silly me, I listened to white noise and read stories of strangers on message boards. It took me a little while to tune the world out and I'm glad I did.

I realize now the distance in the beginning of our relationship built a strong foundation. In an LDR, you become excellent communicators. I can't think of a single thing we cannot talk about. I can't recall going a single day without calling, texting, tweeting, skyping. We used this time to really get to know one another. Not just simple Newlywed Game question answers but real stuff.

We were extremely fortunate to be able to see each other often (thank you buddy pass). A lot of times in LDRs, folk don't see each other often so they feel compelled to be on their best vacation behavior. We farted, had disagreements over Chex Mix, and went to run mundane errands together. We missed each other with that "New Mate Smell". We were ourselves by ourselves.

I'm ready for this next step in our relationship. No fear. No worries. I pray every night this move is successful for her. I know how smart and amazing she is. I want her new co-workers to know this. I want her new friends to know this. I want the whole metro to know this. She didn't make this move for me but I'm gonna do everything in my power to make this move pleasant for her...and US. Welcome to Houston, baby...I luh you. Peace.