5 Days...A Year Before

"I like to see people reunited, I like to see people run to each other,

I like the kissing and the crying, I like the impatience,

the stories that the mouth can't tell fast enough, the ears that aren't big enough,

the eyes that can't take in all of the change,

I like the hugging, the bringing together,

the end of missing someone."

— Jonathan Safran Foer

I was going to write a different post this morning...and then I found this. Something I had written a year ago today- not very well written, but it felt right to remember it.

That night, I had come home from a play. I sat in the dark, and contemplated how things would change when he came home. He had written me a short email saying he would be at Fort McCoy- it read:

hey baby

just thought i´d let you know that im in Germany right now. Just one more small stop and I´ll be in Wisconsin. Should only be 5 days in wisconsin so that shouldnt be too bad....just think 5 days and i get to see you again.

Love you tons,

Sky

But I worried that he would forget about me now that he was back in the States. I was grateful that he was out of Afghanistan and only a few states away. I wondered if he still loved me like he said before he left, and I wondered if he really knew how deeply I loved him.

And I wrote this.

You told me 5 days

5 days and then you would see me again

I have grown used to you away,

To the endless letters,

To the softness of your voice across the world.

You may be thinner

I may be stronger

But I will weaken for you

I will put away my letters and reach for your hand

Hoping beyond hope it still fits with mine

July 23, 2009

*Post script- our hands fit. Perfectly.