My husband always likes to leave me little surprises before he heads back home to Chicago. It used to be something silly, a joke we like to play on each other or something for the kids to discover. This morning it was the last churro for me to enjoy and the sunflower from Saturday perched on a table in the sunroom.
At one point it was a t-shirt that ended up in my bag as I was leaving Chicago to return home. I found it later that evening as I was compiling laundry from the weekend to wash. His scent was still on the shirt so I fell asleep with it on for three nights until the scent faded away.
As I started working from home, it was harder to get away with silly surprises, as they were always left after I went to work. We also realized we would have to spread our time out in between visits so we can try to avoid catching the virus and exposing each other and our families. What was once three long weekends out of the month turned into every two weeks, and at one point tipped to 5 weeks apart. It was, and still can be difficult. I haven’t been to Chicago since February — and that has always been my happy place. But as we go through this, he always leaves a shirt and a comfy pair of basketball shorts that I often wear to bed. If a shirt to snuggle with at night is the closest I can get to falling asleep next to my husband for two weeks, I’ll take it.
I always find that these little surprises make the time away worthwhile. We both seem to go above and beyond to make memories and ensure that we’re both happy and feeling loved from miles away. A long-distance relationship is not for the faint of heart, and marrying a person that lives nearly 200 miles away seems like an insane thing to do. But I’ve found that what you do with your time while you’re together matters the most. Enjoying the present and being present. Sitting on the couch and just enjoying the company, or planning elaborate at home date nights. With baseball starting this past weekend, I did everything I could to bring baseball to our living room. The next morning was a large breakfast in bed and driving an hour north to see the sunflowers. With all that said, sometimes just sitting next to each other, laughing at whatever as he draws a cute little monster and I play solitaire on my phone is more than enough, because we’re in the present and enjoying the moment.
I probably sound like a broken record, but I’m truly blessed to have found someone so perfect for me. Someone that balances my crazy, supports every decision I make and loves me for who I am. I only hope that he feels the same way and knows how much I love him every single day.
