A Day in the Life of a United States Naval Academy Girlfriend

Geoff and I met before my freshman year in high school and his sophomore year. We met on a blind date that mutual friends set up for us, to watch the movie Click. A couple weeks after that we were official, a couple months later we fell in love, and a few years later, here we are: still in love.

Since the first night I talked to Geoff, he told me about his plans to join the military. It was not until a couple of years ago that he planned on going to a military academy instead of enlisting. Which was a huge relief for me. He is a very smart, athletic man and plans to pursue a military career in Naval Aviation. He is now at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

Morning:

It is 8:30 am. Time to get up, says my brain, “No way” says my body. So, I reset my alarm clock for 8:50 am, just enough time to get ready for school which starts at 9:10 am. I am so tired. I wake up in the middle of the night, I toss and turn, I wish my midshipman were laying next to me. He’s not. He won’t be for another month and a half. That is what every night is like for me, unless I’m with Geoff. The reality is, most nights he will not be here with me to kiss me goodnight and keep me warm. The best part about waking up late is that it doesn’t give me time to think about how much I miss Geoff. The stamped envelope on my nightstand is waiting to be sent off. I send him as many letters as possible. My rushed morning schedule only allows for the three minutes it takes me to walk to the mailbox, kiss the envelope, and slip it into the slot to be picked up by the mailman and sent off to Annapolis, Maryland. So, my day starts.

Afternoon:

When notes come up on the PowerPoint in my class, I write quickly and doodle with the rest of the time it takes for the other students to finish up. My doodling consists of bubble letters of “Luisa <3 Geoff”, hearts, and a countdown of how many days left until I am in his arms again.

I come home from school at around 11:10 am and make some sort of lunch. Typically, I’m not very hungry because it is early and I have not done anything strenuous except for stuffing my brain with useless knowledge I will probably never use in my life. Welcome to high school. But, there is always something I do first, check my phone, email, and Facebook page for anything from Geoff. If I do not receive a text, there is usually an email or cute bumper stickers from Facebook left on my profile. If there is nothing from him, I try my hardest to restrain myself from communicating with him just yet. He is very busy and has many responsibilities and that is probably why I did not receive anything from him.

My body aches. My heart feels broken. I can’t get him out of my thoughts. I miss him. Everyday is a struggle because so many things remind me of him. I’m a helpless wreck at times or completely stable and strong. But, I cope, because in the end all I want is him and I know we can get through anything. Doesn’t mean it’s easy, doesn’t mean I don’t cry on a daily basis, it just means… this is my life.

Work is one thing that makes the situation easier. I am so busy and I am doing so many things at once that it eases the pain because I am not constantly thinking about him. I am smiling and greeting customers. I love when it is nice outside because that is where I go for my break. But I’m never free. On the side of the store is a RedBox movie rental, and there I see a man in camo and dog tags. Its all over for me. Silent tears stream down my face and I have to check my phone for an email or text message or to just look at the picture of Geoff in his Navy Blues on my cell phone wallpaper. I compose myself after a few minutes and return to work, but I miss him. I miss him so much.

Night:

The best part of my day is night. It is the best part of my day because it is when I get to talk to Geoff. Sometimes it is for a few hours and sometimes it is a few minutes. Whatever the length, I get to communicate with him and I’ll take that whenever I possibly can. My first reply to his email is, “I miss you” or “come home”. Then we start our daily conversations and everything is alright for the time being. And then the time I dread every single day, saying goodbye. Since the day he left for Plebe Summer we started something that we would do every night before way say goodbye. Every night, for 100 nights we would say one reason why we loved each other. After those 100 nights were up we started a new tradition, to say one memory in our relationship every night. So, although we both dread saying goodnight, we always have something good to look forward to. He starts first…

“I love you, Bunny!”

“Good night.”

“#56 When we went to Europe together”.

Then I reply with,

“I love you, Koala!”

“Good night.”

“#56 When you took me to get ice cream at Walrus.”

The time difference between us is two hours and he is ahead of me. Usually when he says good night it is about nine my time, which means I am nowhere close to being ready to go to bed. However, I usually get ready for bed and lay in my bed watching Army Wives or some sappy show that never ceases to make me cry. While in bed, I write, almost every night in the notebook he gave me. We started this tradition in September, where we each have a journal and we write entries in it until the next time we see each other and then trade. That way it is like getting a wave of thirty letters that we can read all at once and instead of waiting for the mail to get there, we have each others letters in a notebook.

Its around 11 pm and I am tired. I tuck in all the stuffed animals he has given me over the years and cuddle so close to them, turn to my night stand and kiss his picture, “Good night, Koala Bear. I love you.” Lights out.

I am with him in my dreams… he is with me in my heart. This is my life as a United States Naval Academy girlfriend.

Luisa