My week in New York was amazing. As much as I enjoyed the trip, I did find myself thinking "the Student would like this restaurant" or "the Student would have loved that museum". He was in the back of my mind a lot, and we texted each other every day. Amongst the texts of recapping our days, a couple of times I received texts that simply said "I miss you. :-(" It was reassuring to know he felt the same way I was feeling.
When I got back from New York, he was already gone. The 11 days that he was away was harder for me because I didn't have the distractions that New York had provided me with the previous week. It was the holidays which was also hard, being that it was my first Christmas in 8 years without the Ex. I was concerned with how Christmas Eve would feel. Every year we were together, we would spend Christmas Eve at my mom's then come home and have our own tradition of gift exchanges and movies. I was sad to be saying goodbye to that part of my past relationship.
After endless text messages, over 60 minutes on the phone, and a daily count down of how many sleeps until we would be together again, it was finally December 30. The Student's flight was scheduled to arrive in the afternoon, so I took a few hours off of work so I could pick him up. The plan was that I would meet him at the airport, then we would pick up groceries and go back to my house to spend the rest of the evening together.
My last airport reunion wasn't a pleasant one. I had gone to LA for a week with my sister about three weeks before I ended the relationship with the Ex. He was supposed to pick us up when our flight landed. When I got off the plane, my luggage was chosen to be searched by customs. The process took about 10 minutes, but when I got through customs, I couldn't find my sister or the Ex. After wondering around the airport for a few minutes, I went outside. Finally, the Ex pulled around with the car. Instead of a happy greeting or indication that he missed me, I was told to hurry up and throw my luggage in the car as he was idling in a no parking zone. He could have parked in the parking lot but didn't want to pay the fee. He was annoyed because I took so long and he needed to get back to work. It was the worst feeling ever.
When I went to pick up the Student from the airport, I parked in the parking lot and walked into the airport. I wasn't going to circle around the airport and have him jump in the car as I drove by. I wanted a proper airport reunion. I anxiously watched for him as people started to walk through the arrival doors. Then I saw him. He didn't see me, but I waited a few seconds before I approached him. The change of expression on his face from him searching the crowd to when he saw me made my heart explode. The look of happiness/joy/excitement when he saw me was incredible. No one has ever been that happy to see me. He kissed me and hugged me like we had been apart for months. He continued to hug and kiss me while we waited for his luggage. I have never felt so special.
That was the best airport reunion ever. And all it cost me was $1 for parking.
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