Spring Rehabilitation

Honestly, Stuart and I had been going through a rough patch lately. Long distance was taking a very heavy toll on each of us independently and our relationship together. There were very strong doubts in both of our minds that we'd be able to make it another month.
Thanks to Spring Break, however, we have had ample time to repair and restore the foundation of our relationship. With the time we've had together, we have had quiet moments of togetherness and the fighting has dissipated. In fact, I've never felt closer to another person as I do with Stuart. The second he walks out the door to go to work, I immediately think of a random, silly thought that I want him to know. Being near him makes me relaxed and calm. Sparta adores him! He is a realistic provider, a gentle yet powerfully opinionated person. We share similar tastes in movies and swap music loves. We feel the same way on polka dots.
"I love this jacket," I said while sitting on a sunny hilltop outside Stuart's apartments. "Even though it has stripes."
"What's wrong with stripes?" asked Stuart.
"I'm not a huge fan of stripes. But at least it's not polka dots. I hate polka dots!"

(Without a pause) "I love you!" Stuart said.

I had hoped this Spring Break would be warmer. I packed a bunch of halter tops, a jean skirt, shorts, and a knee-length dress all for it to be chilly in the never-ceasing wind. When we traveled down to Wrightsville Beach for the day, Stuart was dressed in long pants, two T-shirts, and a windbreaker jacket. I had on a bikini top, see-through blouse, shorts, jacket, and Stuart's windbreaker pants. We were both huddled into our beach towels for warmth as the wind badgered at us, but every second was enjoyable because we were together and happy. Stuart built sand over my feet into the shape of scuba flippers, we trod through the tide pools formed by low tide where we found warm sink holes to bury our feet in, and ate a mountainous lunch we packed for the trip. Even with the cold, it was the best day all Spring Break. On the drive back, I read aloud from Three Weeks with my Brother, a memoir from popular author Nicholas Sparks, just like Ma used to do on our drives to our rented beach house when we were all a family.

We might have survived without Spring Break. We could have gotten through it but there would have many more fights. But something tells me that if it weren't Spring Break occurring so early in March thanks to Western Carolina... Stuart and I might not be celebrating our five-month anniversary on Monday.

Hopefully, with all we have gone through and the trust we have built together over these past two weeks, our fighting will lessen and our trust will keep us together while we're apart.