My Love,

It’s been twenty-nine days, seventeen hours, and thirty-five minutes since I last pressed my lips to yours.  Just a few hours shy of a month since I left you at the airport curbside and whispered into you ear that everything would be alright.  What I failed to anticipate was the difficulty of 1800 miles, each one more painful than the next.

As I was on that plane ride back to Boston many things went through my mind.  I thought about the amazing week we had just spent together.  I let the memories wash over me like water, crystal clear and refreshing.  Eventually the exact details would start to fade and the sediment of time would obscure the water, but for now I sat back and drank it all in.  I still had the feel of your skin on my fingertips. Your scent lingered on my clothes.  And I could still taste your chapstick on my lips.

I thought about the difficult months ahead of us; the sleepless nights, tears, and frustrations of being apart.  I was angry at myself; upset that I couldn’t stay and mad that I couldn’t afford to bring you back with me.  Not yet anyway. “Five months” I told myself over and over again, “just five months”.  It could have been five years and would have felt just the same.  I seethed, I despaired. But only momentarily, for seemingly out of nowhere a memory popped into my head.  I watched myself feeding you a maraschino cherry out of the jar you kept in your fridge.  It made me smile.  It brought a tear to my eye.  A seemingly insignificant moment in time now felt more powerful than I could have imagined. 

I held onto that memory for the rest of my flight.  In the days since we parted I’ve found comfort in these little glimpses of the time we shared.  It’s been even more difficult than I imagined it would be, but I am getting by. The other day at the grocery store I came across a jar of cherries and somehow it made its way into my shopping cart.  And now as I open the refrigerator and take out that jar I can feel the pain and sadness of our distance.  I open it up and start to feel the relief of knowing we will be together soon.  As I reach into the jar and place a cherry into my mouth I get a little taste of the happiness we have shared together and the joy that is yet to come.

I love you, always and forever.