A Day in the Life of a College Student in Love with an Airman

We met when I was 13 years old, in the 8th grade. It was tradition for the 8th grade class to go on a trip to Washington DC every year, and this year we thought we’d do it a little different. My teacher said we’re going to bring another school along and months before the actual trip, we decided to meet them. I saw Nate from the minute I walked into the doors of his school to a party that they called the “Rock-A-Thon.” After months of talking on Facebook and texting, the Washington DC trip came and the crush continued. Days after we got back to Ohio, he asked me to play the question game and after asking what my favorite color was, he asked me out. I had my first “boyfriend,” for about a week that is. We “broke up” and stopped talking all together. By the time my senior year of high school came around, I had been in and out of a toxic relationship and ready to move onto the next chapter of my life: college. Little did I know how different my life would be.

In February of 2015, my senior year, I had a friend steal my phone and tweet “favorite for an honest DM” and before I knew it, Nate’s name showed up in my notifications. Now I hate talking on social media as much as the next person but believe me when I say my heart dropped. I messaged Nate which led to texting which led to our first official date. On April 10th, 2015, he asked me to prom and to be his girlfriend. Safe to say it was a day I’ll never forget.

I knew from the start that the Air Force was in his future but I knew that we would figure things out as it goes. We spent the rest of senior year and the summer together and on October 6th 2015 we had to say “I’ll see you soon.” Basic Training was rough but 7 and a half weeks flew by a lot faster than I expected and the week of Thanksgiving I flew down to Texas to spend graduation week with him. This was the first time we discussed our future and how we both have known for a long time that we want to spend our lives together. After I left Texas, Airman’s Week came along and he found out his possible duty stations – Spain or Alaska – and I’m still waiting to find out where he will end up. He is now in Tech School and was able to come home for Christmas. Two weeks after he got home, I said my last “I’ll see you soon” on January 2nd, 2016 and am anxiously waiting to find out when the next time I’ll see the love of my life will be.

I wake up every weekday morning some time between 4am and 7am, just to talk to Nate for maybe a half hour then have a minute or two phone call before he’s off to classes for the day. I go back to bed and wake up to my alarm originally set for 9:45am but after hitting snooze a time or 2, I’m out of bed at around 10:15am. I get changed and brush my teeth and prepare myself for whatever college has to throw at me that day. At 10:35 I leave my house and drive the 15 minute commute to my university. At 11am I sit in my class and take my notes while checking my phone every opportunity I get in hopes that Nate gets out of class early, he usually doesn’t.

When noon comes around I’m on my break and get food with a friend or two. Wendy’s or Chic-Fil-A is what it normally ends up being as I sit there zoning out of conversation wondering what Nate got to eat for lunch and if he had enough to eat while CONSTANTLY checking my phone for a text that more often than not, doesn’t come. After eating my food and catching up on my homework, I trudge across campus for math. Throughout the rest of my daily classes, I’m constantly wondering what crazy thing the Air Force has Nate doing that day, while still periodically checking my phone. At around 3, it’s finally time to head home and wait to hear the special vibrate or ringtone that I have set for Nate to go off. Whether I’m at home or not, the second I hear my phone ring I’ll answer. Sometime between 4 and 7 is when I FINALLY get that ringtone. Texting throughout the remainder of the day while giving each other updates on what we’ve missed is normally how that goes.

At 8:10 every night, Nate leaves for what I figured out to be an hour and 10 minutes as he has accountability. I sit in bed extremely impatient while waiting for him to come back. When 9:20 rolls around my phone goes on loud and my laptop is turned on while I wait for my favorite part of the day, our Skype call. Skyping with him can go from a half hour to sometimes 3 hours. Either way I don’t complain. We talk and laugh for whatever time we have together. When I hear his voice trail off as he says “hey babe…” I know it’s time for bed. We say our goodnights and our I love you’s which normally takes about 10 minutes to do. Hanging up Skype is something I dread doing every night. We text back and forth for maybe 15 minutes until he calls to say he’s going to bed, we say our goodnights and I love you’s once again as he can’t keep his phone out at night because he and I both know he’ll never get to sleep while using it. Luckily, he’s an hour behind me and by the time we hang up it’s a decent hour for me to head to bed as well. I lay in bed cuddled up to my air force teddy bear that Nate spontaneously named “JimBob” and kiss his picture goodnight while he’s my last thought before I fall asleep. He’s always with me as I’m always with him. Right before I drift to sleep, I text him one last time “I love you, sweet dreams.”

Christy