We've Proven Our Love Over Time So Strong.

It was nearing the end of June, and I was getting excited. Time was flying by, and I was counting the days. In just a few weeks, I’d be flying back to the states to see her. To hold her. It was about that time when I would be getting her next letter. I was getting antsy for the time when the mail would come, and when it finally did, there was a letter from her.

(#4 June 15th) Dear Brian,

I hope you got my first letter. I’m sure by the time you’re reading this, you may have gotten it, and also my third letter will be in the mail to you. My third letter from here that is. Things are getting better. I still miss you like crazy, and can’t wait to see you.

We did our line handling stuff, which was pretty awesome. It was a nice teamwork exercise, and it was nice to do something besides read and sit through boring training. We also started weapons training. Practice on weapons handling and turn-over. I won’t go too much into the pointless stuff, but next week is when we do more hands on stuff, like the actual firing of real guns! I’m so excited.

I’m also pretty sick too. I had a short cold when I first got here, and now I feel like I have a sinus infection. My whole face hurts, my body aches, but I press on through each day. Each day bringing me closer to graduation day. My bunk-mate had a dream the first day we were here that we were being woken up and told to get ready for graduation. It’s almost feeling that way with the way time is flying by. We do our PT, we do our classroom training, and all that fun stuff. The days are all fully packed, so that makes things go by faster. We’re hoping to also get phone calls soon too. I hope if we do, I can call you, and I hope it gets through. We’ll see I guess. I love you so much, baby.

Love, Lisa

I loved reading her letters so much. I know I didn’t get them that often, but it was so nice hearing from her. After the show, we did our usual routine, then loaded the bus, took off, and we all went to bed. I was sound asleep when I heard my phone going off from somewhere in my bunk. I was irritated as to who was calling me at this hour. It had to be from the states, and when I looked, I saw that it was a number I didn't recognize.

“Hello?” I answered questioningly.

“Brian?” I swear I had gone to heaven and an angel was talking to me. Instant smile. Instant rush of energy and I was wide awake.

“Lisa!? Holy shit! Hi, baby!” I shouted in a whisper as to not disturb the others.

“How are you, baby? I'm sorry if this is a horrible time, but this was the only time they gave us.”

“It's early in the morning here, but it's fine. I totally understand, and this is the first time I'm hearing your voice in a month. I've gotten four letters from you only.”

“The delay is annoying as hell. So you got the graduation date?”

“Yep.”

“Well I wrote the additional information in the next one you’ll get. I don’t have full details yet. But I think we get liberty that whole weekend. We still have to be here though at night.”

“As long as I see you, it’s fine.”

“Yep. Then after that we go back to normal. So you can leave that following Monday. After here I’m going to San Antonio for my school. It’s hard to explain because there’s a lot of new vocabulary. I wrote it all though, along with my mom's phone number if you need to talk to her to make any arrangements.”

“Alright. So how’s it going?”

“Great. Oh guess what I did today? Shot guns! A pistol and a shotgun. It was so much fun, and it was amazing.”

“That’s awesome. Are you still sick?”

“I still feel like shit, but I’m dealing. It doesn’t seem to be getting better, but as long as I can make it through each day without getting screamed at for something stupid, it’s fine with me.”

“Well I’m glad it’s all going well, but that really sucks that you’re so sick. I can hear it in your voice, you sound congested as hell.”

“Yeah. And we had our pictures taken last week too. I can’t wait to see how those turn out.”

I chuckled a little bit. “Aww baby, I'm sure they'll turn out fine.”

“I miss you so much.”

“I miss you too.”

“I have to get going cause I have to call my mom.” I could hear her voice crack like she was going to cry.

“Alright. I love you.”

“Love you too. Tell everyone I said hi. I’ll see you soon. Three weeks.”

I smiled. “Bye baby.”

“Bye.”

I hung up the phone and tried to go back to sleep, but hearing her voice gave me a new kind of energy. I just wanted to run around, jump, scream, or do something. Not wanting to wake everyone else though, I did lay back down and ended up falling back to sleep within a few minutes.

We all woke up around the same time a few hours later. I relayed the message to them that she had called and said to say hi. I also relayed the message that I was flying out on the 17th of July to see her graduation. It was enough time to find a replacement for a few days, so nobody was too worried. While we had some free time until we had to prepare for the show, I was on the internet looking for plane tickets. It was hard to find one that didn't have a million layovers and left on the 17th. After about an hour, I managed to find one with a layover in New York, then Norfolk, and then finally going to Chicago.

After purchasing the ticket, I went about my daily business with the guys, setting up and hanging around the venue to shower and get ready for the show. All the while I was just waiting till I'd fly back. I couldn't explain to anybody how much I missed her and how badly I couldn't wait to hold her again. I didn't care how goofy I looked to them either, I felt like I was a teenager again. The giddy feelings I'd get knowing that I'd see her soon were just making me act differently.

The thing that interested me the most was being at her graduation from Boot Camp. I knew it couldn't be like any kind of high school graduation, and I was curious to know what that would be like. As Matt came and sat next to me in the dressing room, I wished he could go too. He was obviously very supportive of the military, and seeing a bunch of new people begin their adventure into this life would've fascinated him. “It’s great to see you so happy,” he said, interrupting my thoughts.

“Yeah it is great to feel this way again.”

“I bet you’re counting the days too.”

I laughed at his remark. Of course I was counting the days. Twenty-four. “I don't think these days are going fast enough.”

“I'd tell you to chill out, but you'd probably punch me or something. Just calm down and focus on the tour for a few more weeks, and then you'll be flying to go see her. Just don't knock her up.” He laughed at his last remark.

“Dude, no. No way. It's way too early to even be thinking about that.”

Matt laughed again. “I was kidding, man. I know you better than that.” His expression turned serious. “I overheard you talking to Val a few weeks ago. About Michelle.”

“Point being what?”

“I was just wondering how you were doing about that.”

“I'll be civil if I have to see her. I made that promise to Val. As long as she doesn't try and start shit, then neither will I. I really don't wanna talk about her right now though.”

“Sorry, sorry. On another note, Val said she can't wait to meet Lisa. I can see a fast friendship forming there probably.” He laughed at whatever he was visualizing. “Yeah, I see it now...”

I smirked and laughed a bit as I had my own visual. “That's a good thing though. I want her to be accepted into the group.”

“She is. She's your girlfriend, and you love her. We've all met her a bit, and we all like her. If we didn't then we wouldn't let you date her. Question though. If she gets stationed somewhere not near home, like in Norfolk or something, what do you plan on doing? Cause won't she be there for like two years?”

“We haven't planned that far yet, but if she does, I'm sure I could afford a small apartment for a while. I'd rather put all this money to good use than sit on it and waste it on stupid shit for my house.”

“I guess, but in all honesty right now, don't go blowing all your money on her just in case it doesn't work out. Not that I'm saying it won't. I do understand how military life can be. Pack up and go at the snap of a finger sometimes.”

“Yeah I understand. Like I said, we haven't planned that far yet, so we'll see.”

Matt nodded and left to go take a shower. It was time for us to start getting ready for the show. While getting ready, all I was thinking was twenty-four days.