So, the boy's in South England, and I'm in Texas. Not unusual for military couples to be apart, except we live like that all the time. I was one of those people that didn't think she'd ever be in a long distance relationship that was 3 hours away, muchless 2 continents! It's crazy what people will do when they are in love, when they have to.
I'm happier to be sitting in my room, writing him a letter and missing him so terribly I can hardly stand it, than I've ever been in my life.
Royal's deployed right now, but when he's working at camp or training somewhere we stay in touch fairly easily. I'm incredibly blessed to have this man who's completely in love with me, and is fantastic at keeping me informed.
Royal calls me 2 or 3 times a week. There is a 6 hour time difference, so by the time I get off work at 6:00pm, it's midnight there. He naps until time, and then stays up just to hear my voice. He refuses to call me early in the morning, even though I tell him to to take the pressure off of him. He says he knows I need to sleep and it's easy for him to lose the sleep, and he loves me that much. When he's home, we talk on MSN Messenger and both have webcams. It's the only time I get to see him, as (and I guess all men are like this?) he is awful at sending photos EVEN though he insists I send him a million! Which, of course, I do! Come to think of it, last time we talked he did say he had 10 pictures already that actually contain him. So yay for me!
I'll call him twice a week or so as well, so normally we talk on the phone about 5 days on average. Don't even ask about the bill! As for me, I write him a letter every week. I've written him a letter every week since about a month after he left me the first time. I was a couple days late one week, and he joked that I must not love him anymore. He joked, but I could tell it meant more to him than that. Since he's been deployed, I've written 2 letters a week! The last time we talked on the phone, he said he'd written me TEN pages! And he hates to write letters!
As for visiting, we try and trade off. I work two jobs and have school, he only gets leave a few times a year. It's quite fun coordinating it! We figured that from last March, to next March, (2006) we'll have been in each other's company about 6 weeks. It's insane to say, but I'm actually proud that we're able to maintain such a loving, healthy relationship with all we have to deal with.
There are definitely more things that help with being so far away from my guy, but this is already pretty long, so next time!!
13 more days!
I met Mrs Soldier just before I was posted from location to another. In the next 18 months we probably spent 8 weeks together in total. Now we've been married for 7 years.
Posted by: Universal Soldier | November 16, 2005 at 11:36 PM
How much could someone reasonably get place tickets to the UK for? Is Heathrow the only option, or could someone fly to Glasgow/Belfast/Manchester, etc if they wanted?
I really want to take a trip over there, but Im not sure how pricey it would be.
Posted by: Citizen Grim | November 17, 2005 at 10:12 AM
Hey there Mr. Grim! The last time I went was during tourist season (summer through November, I would guess). The round trip non-stop ticket was about $900. You would probably be able to get it cheaper, just shop around. I actually flew into Gatwick, South London, as Royal lives in South England and suggested that airport.
Feel free to ask any other questions! I'd love to help someone else have an awesome trip over there!
~ Kath
Posted by: Kath ~ IT | November 17, 2005 at 10:44 AM
I'm Mrs Soldier and i know how you feel the first two years of being with Universal soldier were hard because we didn't get to see each other that much. The first year of marriage was hard because we didn't know each other but after that it got a lot easier. The one thing that doesn't get any easier is their time away. We have been married for 7years now and i still find it hard when he goes away i miss him more than anything. I won't tell you that be married to the forces is easy but when you have time with the one you love you cherish it more. I f you fancy a chat you know my email address just email and i will try to answer any question you have.
Posted by: Growing Up | November 17, 2005 at 01:55 PM
Mrs. Soldier,
Thank you for those kind words! I really respect both of you, and happy anniversary!
Email on the way :-)
~ Kath
Posted by: Kath ~ IT | November 17, 2005 at 03:34 PM