Companion

I'm going to try to post more. Maybe once a day or so, because this blog should be my place for therapy. And because I'm thinking about my husband, hundreds of miles away, I remembered this passage that was read in our wedding ceremony. It's a Native American blessing and it's very appropriate, even four years after our wedding day.

"Now you will feel no rain, for each of you will be shelter for the other.
Now you will feel no cold, for each of you will be warmth to the other.
Now there will be no loneliness, for each of you will be companion to the other.
Now you are two persons, but there is only one life before you.
May beauty surround you both in the journey ahead and through all the years.
May happiness be your companion and your days together be good and long upon the earth."

So much to say. So much to do.

There's so much I could say about the last four months of my life. It's hard to say it in a way that doesn't take forever or put readers to sleep, so I'll try the best I can to summarize. I've always liked bullet points. I find them to be direct and easy to navigate. Bullets are my fact organizer of choice.

• Neil graduated from the US Coast Guard boot camp on April 29th, 2011.
• I'm very proud of him. As I've always been.
• Neil turned 29 the day after he graduated. We're getting old.
• His first assignment as a nonrate is in Seattle, WA on board a 378 high-endurance cutter named USCGC Midgett.
• It's funny that a 6'4" guy is stationed on a ship named The Midgett.
• We decided I would stay behind for a few months to get the finances in order and the house ready to rent.
• So he's a geo-bachelor and living on the ship.
• Which means I'm learning how to master living and sleeping by myself.
• I've gotten a lot better at it.
• I'm moving to Seattle (or really a little island near Seattle) at the end of September.
• I'm scared crapless.
• I can't think about leaving people behind because the sadness does me no favors.
• I have to focus not on what's staying here, but what's waiting for me there.
• Neil is waiting for me there.
• I'm pretty sure I'm not going to survive saying goodbye to my parents.
• That is easily, hands down, going to be the worst part.
• I can't think about that though, because my emotional survival is crucial.
• The movers are coming to pack up the house on September 21.
• The movers will be unpacking our house in our new apartment on October 1st.
• I'm hoping I'll be able to keep my job and work remotely.
• If not, it's going to be a scramble to find employment.
• The Midgett is about to leave port for three months.
• It's hard to imagine Neil being underway and unavailable.
• But I've spent the last four months that way ... I can handle three more.

Welcome to my new life.