The Long Weekend
Editor’s Note: In honor of Valentine’s Day, I’m posting one story each day for a week of a time in my life I felt particularly loved. Names have been changed or left out entirely, although I’m sure a few of you will recognize the stories. Maybe they are even about you. Happy Valentine’s Day! Day 1 Day 2
It had been three weeks since I moved to the city, and I was so excited to have him there with me, finally. After our tumultuous relationship the distance scared me, even though I knew it was necessary. In fact, I had high hopes for the distance. Or at least, high hopes that a few months of a lot of it would lead to a lifetime of none of it. But I would think about that later, because at that moment he was right there next to me.
It was the Fourth of July, and standing along the Hudson River with thousands of other people watching the fireworks I allowed myself to imagine doing this every year for the rest of our lives. I was already in love with New York, and had spent the better part of the weekend trying to convince him he was too. We had seen all the sights, all of his favorite places and more than a few of mine. Now, after a long day, watching the fireworks, I was starting to believe my plan had worked.
The night hadn’t gone as I would have chosen. If I’d had my meticulous, worried way we would have arrived hours earlier with a big blanket to find a perfect spot and spread out. But we’d done it his way, arriving nearly too late, racing up and down 11th Avenue trying to make it through a gate before the police closed it off. We made it just in time and squeezed into the crowd much further uptown than I would have liked, but we could see the fireworks just fine.
With no room to sit, we stood with his arms around me, his chin resting on the top of my head. It had been a hard year for us, but I knew he loved me. I knew he missed me. I hoped he wanted me to come home, or to make a home with me in New York.
The next day he would be gone, back to Minnesota, and I wasn’t sure when I’d see him again. It ended up being a lot longer than I ever imagined it would. But as the last sparks from the Grand Finale went out and we wandered with the millions of people back into the heart of the city it felt like our lives were just coming together.
