I started dating my boyfriend Gavin Richardson at the end of my freshman year here at Stafford High School. When we first started dating, the hardest decision we had to make every week was which movie we were going to see on Friday night. My favorite day of the week was Friday, simply because of the movies we’d go see together. On the ride home, we’d pick apart the movies and talk about what we did and didn’t like. Now, the hardest decision is when we will have time to FaceTime or even travel to see each other at all.
As we grow up, our schedules have gone through a lot of changes and have gotten harder to maintain. However, one thing always stays the same: we always make time for each other, even if it’s just a fifteen-minute FaceTime call before work.
Through him getting a job at Freddy’s, then a summer job at the YMCA, and my job at the Merit School daycare, we had to bend our usual all-day hangouts to see each other in between our work schedules and school.
Though our schedules were busy, we still found a way to stay connected. We were doing fun things on the weekends and after school, or even just meeting up in the hallways for a short conversation, FaceTime calls at night, and good morning texts in the morning.
That all changed When he left for Army bootcamp on September 14, four days before my birthday, it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever gone through. Watching him swear in felt surreal.
The hug I gave him after was the tightest hug ever. I didn’t want to let him go because I knew that it would be the last hug for a long time.
Walking back to the car with his mom, I held in my tears. It felt wrong walking away from the building knowing he wasn’t leaving with me. Having to drive away without him made my heart hurt. I remember putting in my headphones and staring out the window, just thinking about what the next two months were going to be like without my best friend. And just like that, everything stopped. The daily hangouts, the FaceTime calls, and the good morning texts.
Having to go from hanging out every second of every day to not at all was hard. Not being able to talk on top of that made it even worse. It felt lonely and unnatural. There were ten weeks where we only got one short phone call every Sunday. Despite not being able to talk all week and barely on Sundays, the distance didn’t damage our connection; we stayed in touch, updating and telling each other everything per usual through sending letters in the mail. I wrote to him every day, sending 35 letters and keeping a book of the ones he sent back.
I stayed connected to his family by going over to his house once a week and hanging out with his mom and his dogs. His house felt emptier without him, and being in his room made me heartbroken. Just the thought of being in his house would make me cry.
The weeks were fast, but the days were long. Soon enough, November 24 came. His mom, his sister, and I drove down for family day to watch him graduate. We finally got to see him again. It was the best feeling in the world. As we walked up to him to tap him out, my heart pounded in my chest. Hugging him after two months felt like my world was whole again.
Two weeks later we reunited again for Christmas, and for those two weeks it felt like he never left. We fell back into our normal routine and habits. We hung out every day and went to the movies just like before he left. We spent Christmas and New Year’s together. Then January 3rd came, and he had to go back to AIT (Advanced individual training), which again was hard on the both of us, with a lot of tears and hugs. We continue to FaceTime every night and text every day.
On February 14, we unfortunately have to spend Valentine’s Day apart, but we still send each other presents.
One major thing I’ve learned by growing up with my best friend is that there will be disagreements, long periods of being apart, and a lot of missing him. It’s important to make sure you are both understood and heard.
Going from hanging out every day to long distance is hard, but if you’re both all in, the distance doesn’t matter.