January Morning

It's 11:11 a.m. on a Saturday morning in January and Hanna is snuggled into the space between my neck and my shoulder with her arm and leg draped over me. She's half-awake and absolutely adorable. I am so thankful for her in my life. Since we began I have entered a world where I wake up happy every single day and rest easy by her side (most nights, except when we have to do the long distance thing). It's the beginning of the second semester of her senior year, and with that comes many of the stresses I refused to think about until this time. In the next few months we will find out where she will be next year and how far our 2 years of long distance will be. I must admit, it's scary to think about, especially if she is a flight vs. a drive away. Two years is a long time to have to spend apart when we are so ready to start our lives together now, even though we know there are some things we have to get through first before we can truly begin that next chapter (I have to graduate, she has to establish where she is living and working, etc.). When I think about all that has happened in 2 years, and apply that length of time to a world in which we may only get to see each other every few weeks (which, all things considered, would be amazing), or months, it's scary. I know my love for her will never die, but it will be immeasurably painful to be so far away. My only hope is that somehow she will find a great job opportunity somewhere a few hours away. I wouldn't mind the 4 or 5 hour drive every now and then, just load up on some coffee, food, and good music and it will all be worth it. Above all else, though, I could never imagine enduring two years of long distance to get to the better part of life with anybody else. She is my world, my everything, and I am here to stay no matter where she ends up. I will put everything into making it work and I know she will too, and as long as our love stays strong we will make it. That doesn't diminish how hard it will be to wake up on a Saturday morning without this, but having her in my life regardless of distance makes me happier than I ever thought I could be. She is amazing, and as I told her last night, I think if we never had met I still would have missed her; I would have felt her missing, but I wouldn't have known what it was. For now I'm going to curl back up in bed with her, throw my arms around her, and feel so incredibly lucky to be able to wake up this way.