Late Night Smiles

It's 1am and I'm not the least bit tired. Which isn't that unusual now that I think about it :) But I do know what's been keeping me up tonight. I was on the phone with an old friend earlier today and she asked me "Amy, how did you and Erik stay together in a long distance relationship for a year and a half?" The easy answers are lots of phone calls, a sense of humor and a willingness to be virtually single for a long time. The deeper reasons are far more profound. Love. Commitement. Trust. Respect. Erik and I committed to see this thing through and we have :)

We have not been without our struggles, trust me, there have been a few. Time constraints on the phone, very tired calls, moodiness for the both of us, power struggles and a few fiesty moments. But at the end of the day, those things were resolved and we learned just a little more about each other. I have learned that Erik can be a moody, stressed-out perfectionist :) And he has learned that I can be a demanding, nitpicky, sometimes loony girlfriend :) But through all that, we also learned about the best of ourselves. We're patient, kind and loving towards one another. We treat each other with respect and have also learned to laugh at ourselves. No relationship is perfect, but I think we're doing pretty damn good.

I want to take this moment to commend Erik on his efforts to further his life. Since he has left Seattle he's delt with the Phoenix heat, an apt all alone, being jumped by big black guys, waking up at 4am every single day and not coming home until 8 at night, dealing with a crap load of school work while holding down a near full time job, being involved with an accident at work which landed him in the ER and STILL ended up finishing strong in Phoenix, leaving with a perfect attendence record and 7 Student of the Phase awards (coveted by UTI students).

Then.... on to New Jersey! He's attending a school that will certify him as a BMW technician with the ability to be promoted to Master Tech in a few years. That also means that he's doing extremely advanced, challenging work and still bringing home stellar grades. I am so very proud of him, as is everyone else who loves him. Baby, we're all excited for you to come home!!!

But, back to the point of all this.... long distance relationships. They're difficult, they're demanding and they're 100% worth it. I was looking online for resources and found this site. I would encourage anyone who is in a long distance relationship or having to contemplate one, to visit this site. It's very encouraging while still sticking to the realities of LD relationships. Here's the link: http://www.sblake.com/index.phtml

My advice: Have patience with your partner, it goes a long way. And remember time flies faster than you think. The individual days have gotton very long and verrrrrrry lonely, but when I realize Erik has been gone for almost 17 months, it's FLOWN by! He'll be home in 12 weeks..... seems so short compared to the 68 weeks he's been gone. WE CAN'T WAIT :)

Well, those are my thoughts on long distance relationships....take it or leave it. Erik and I are just living proof that it's possible to stay together and possible to still be happy and in love. And good luck to any couple trying to do this! Trust me, you can.

I think I'm done with the sappiness now :) Goodnight....