It’s been a whole year since Adam first left for Iraq and we’re on the downhill slope these days. Not so difficult to believe we’ve survived, but I am incapable of understanding the relativity of time: how time flies, but only in hindsight; how it seems to bend and stretch at its own pace, yet always does one when you want the other.
Why is it that while suffering through it, every second drags on, forcing you to question your strength? You’re left praying that you’ll have the ability to endure one more heart-wrenching moment, but when you’re on the other side, looking back at the wreckage, you dust off and think, ‘huh. Piece o’ cake’.
After all this anticipation, it’s hard to believe our lives will finally begin. I am so excited to finally have the opportunity to rise up to these challenges, these promises that, so far, have just been words and ideas, hopes and plans.
Adam is such a unique person. Every phone conversation, every email, every letter is filled with his innate ability to express his emotions. He continually defines our love with sincere words and heart-felt thoughts, painting a clear picture of what true love looks and feels like. I am not as eloquent nor as quick-witted. I tend to meditate over things, until they form themselves into carefully chosen words of prose or song (case in point).
When I first met him, Adam was unabashed, overt, shameless, and while some may find such blatancy a bit overwhelming, I’ve never been one to take anything at face value. Underneath his flashy demeanor, there is a profound sincerity that is unmistakable. It breathes substance into all of his theatrics and makes for a remarkable human being. But this is not why I love him. I love Adam. Period. Because love cannot be based upon relative conditions. Love is a choice and that choice must be absolute. I am amazed by my ability to love like this and am humbled to be worthy of such a love.
Those of you who are lucky enough to experience such a truth in love, embrace it, revel in it, thank God everyday for it.
In retrospect, it doesn’t seem like a whole year has passed. I know there are some battle scars somewhere on this body, but they’re invisible, as if they never existed. It doesn’t seem feasible.
Yet, here we are: a year later, a thousand times stronger, without a scratch on us.
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