We have now been home together in our "normal" lives for about a week.
The short story is everything is wonderful.
The long story is there is more to it than just that.
Some moments are hard. Some moments I burst into tears. Some moments I am frustrated. Some moments I really struggle to find balance between the girl that I was pre-deployment, the girl that got through the deployment and the girl that I am now.
It's not easy re-fitting two different people into one house.
It wasn't when we first moved in together almost five years ago and it isn't always now.
Thankfully, today, I have hindsight and perspective on my side. I have growth, maturity and a deeper faith in us. Thankfully, today, Paul continues to be a rock. He's the best.
And really, there is so much good. So much it is overwhelming. My partner is home. My house is warmer, my meals better, my entertainment livelier, my life fuller. I am choosing to be patient. With myself and with Paul. I am choosing to be calm. I am choosing to be more deliberate in the things that I say and the way that I act.
I am relearning how to balance. I am relearning how to share space & time with someone else. I am learning how to manage both my independence and my dependence. It's like kindergarten at the Cripe house only instead of milk and cookies, we have red wine and phenomenal burgers.
And so the long story is really just that "wonderful" takes work. All good stuff does.
p.s. that art print is by Austin Kleon for 20x200 & I think that quote on the tag is correctly attributed.
