Life with a truck driver

            Life in Louisiana was wonderful from the beginning. The weather, the people (who are WAY nicer!) and just the vibe you get being down here. If you haven’t been to New Orleans, you need to go! I’m just sayin.

Love the Azaelas

(personal photo)

Look Mom! I caught crabs!  (hahaha get it?! No?  Bad Joke?..anyway..)

(personal photos)

           

            Of course I mentioned that Lance is a truck driver. He can be gone anywhere from 2 weeks until who knows how long. The longest we went between seeing each other is a little over 2 months. That basically sucked. Such is the life of a trucker's wife.  (hey! I'm a poet!)

            Don’t call him a trucker though. He HATES that.  He prefers “relocation specialist.”  Oooh.. Fancy!  Just between us?  I like to call him that sometimes just to push his buttons. I also call him lancey-poo to push his buttons, but that's neither here nor there.

            Back to what I was saying. Basically I’m alone in a city where I don’t know anybody.  Since moving here, I am friends with my neighbor (who works at the agent where Lance works) and I do have a cousin about an hour away that we got to know each other waaaay better than just saying hi at Christmas.

New Orleans across Lake Pontchartrain - Just because its pretty

(personal photo)

            I am not sure if you would call us “long distance” because technically his home is my home. But it sure does feel long distance sometimes.  He’ll come home for a weekend and have to leave right back out. I got used to it though. Being by myself, and then kind of readjusting when he got home… it was kind of like living two lives. One life involved him being home- he was my priority. He works so hard all the time that I made sure he was as comfortable as possible. Then the other life is just me. I am my priority. We talk on the phone and text but that is about it.

Oh Droid3, where would we be without you?!

(photo via accessorygeeks.com)

I am okay on my own for the most part though. I don’t mind going to the movies alone, going to dinner alone, shopping alone.  I CHOSE this life. I knew what it entailed. Does that make it any easier?  Not really, but I can handle it better. There is a definite pattern to how things work when he leaves.  (This is kind of embarrassing so bear with me!) 

When he first leaves, I cry.  I cry HARD. I can still smell his cologne, so I cry. His socks are on the floor, so I cry. The cup he used is on the counter, so I cry. It’s bad. Most of the time I’m walking around the house like a zombie, crying, smelling his shirt or coat and saying “he was just here, I just want him back home.” I’m a hot mess.  After about an hour or so… It’s like I’ve switched into my second life mode, and I am fine. We are back in our normal roles.  Is that odd?

I can hang onto my sanity for about 2-3 weeks. If he isn’t home by then, I repeat what I told you up there. Embarrassing. Sheesh.  It’s like a need a good, snotty, tears-everywhere cry in order to get through the next couple of weeks. 

Sounds kind of bad right?  I have to say though, I have never been happier in my whole life. He is worth all of this. Being away from my family and friends, being sad and/or stressed that he is gone, it doesn’t even compare to the happiness that I feel knowing I get to spend the rest of my life with him.

Our key to success in this?  COMMUNICATION.  Our whole relationship was built on communication alone, because that is all we had. We can talk about anything and everything. If something is bothering one of us, we just talk about it. We don’t raise our voices, we don’t place blame for anything, and we can say sorry and mean it. We know we aren’t perfect, and we accept each other’s flaws.  It makes everything so much easier. I wouldn’t trade my life for anything.

Who else is in a long distance relationship?  How do you cope? Any tips are welcome!