Coming back home to Boston in the dead of winter after Hubby left was not my ideal situation... especially after having lived in South Carolina for three years and spending the past fall and early winter in Hawaii. I stepped off the plane in a track suit, no jacket, but was greeted by my parents with a warm, welcoming down North Face jacket. Even that didn't make me feel warm when we first stepped out into the bitter Boston night time air. 20 degrees, generously. Everyone down in South Carolina would always say when it got cold out, "you're from the north, you should be used to this!" Well, no. Sorry, I've never liked the cold weather, never could acclimate to it. Nope, that's half the reason I moved south in the first place. It's all relative. In Hawaii, I would put on pants and a long-sleeved shirt if it got below 75. Enough said.
Anyway, days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months and somehow I've found myself in the middle of June. How six months of this deployment has passed I have no idea. I have also found myself some nice weather. It finally surpassed 90 degrees for the past four days, an official heat wave per Massachusetts standards.
On Sunday, in the prime of the heat wave, Lainey had come back to our small country town for a family graduation party. Blaze, Biscuit and I found ourselves at Lainey's lakeside house relaxing in the shade, eating potato salad and sandwiches, jumping off the dock and swimming out to the raft, sunning ourselves. True summertime. Bliss. There is nothing greater than Massachusetts in the summer.
Normally, if I were in South Carolina 90 would be on the cool side for the month of June, but in Massachusetts where no one has central AC, I was glad for the heat to pass. As I type right now, outside, a solid 78 degrees (thank you Mac) I feel the warmth of the sun on my face, a slight cool breeze, not a cloud in the big blue, I can't help but think this is perfection. Well, any sort of perfection that can be had away from the beach.
However, there just seems to be something missing. Summertime is here and I could not be happier. What is it? Hubby. I wish that I could have swam in the lake with him, brought him to Lainey's. I wish that we could go relax on the beach like we did in Hawaii every weekend or go snorkeling. I wish I could take him to a Sox game or watch the Celtics playoff games together.
I was looking forward to summer since the minute I stepped foot into the bitter December air the day after Hubby left. Now it's here and all I can do is look forward to the fall, well September really, when he'll finally be home for R&R.
I know I will enjoy my summer, I always do. I'll still go into Boston to go shopping with my girlfriends, head to the beach, go to Maine with my parents, I'll have a sunkissed glow, and I'll swim in the ocean just so I can feel the salt on my face and in my hair, I'l probably go boating and get ice cream with my friends, but underneath it all, I'll just be going through the motions until Hubby comes home.
2 comments:
Hi,
I found your blog through the comment you left on Gallagher's blog... I've met your husband a couple of times through Gallagher and Demo, and as it turns out, my husband is over in Iraq with them, so I just thought I'd leave you a little comment saying hi. I know exactly what you're going through... My husband and I really only got to live together for 2 months before they all shipped out, and we were married on November 30, 10 days before he left. It just plain sucks that we're so far apart, but you know what? We're almost half-way through it! Anyways, just wanted to say hi... Hope you're doing well!
Sarah Cabrera
Oh and P.S. Where in Maine you you and your family go? I've been going there just about every summer since I was a baby. We go to Stonington, which is on Deer Isle. Only the most beautiful place EVER...
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