Things to do when your Heart is Halfway Across the World

-other than crying

The love of my life, a bright-eyed, red-headed, sweet-smelling woman of many talents, is off exploring an island for her schooling. I am holding down the fort at home, in the unpredictable, temperamentally weathered south, looking for work and trying not to spend my entire summer wracked with anxiety.

What do you do when your lover is far away from you and you can’t touch the top of their head with your fingertips? What do you do when you turn over to hold them in your sleep, and there’s no one there? What do you do when there’s an entire season that must pass before you see them again?

Well, I have a comprehensive list of things I will attempt before the summer is over:

1. Go to the doctor

2. Find a job

3. Be the best at that job that I can be

4. WRITE WRITE WRITE

5. DRAW DRAW DRAW

6. Reclaim my cinephile badge that I unfortunately lost in ‘The TikTok War of 2024’

7. Read 5 books, 3 by black authors

8. Clean out my closet

9. Rebuy my favorite book that got stolen out of my car (at least they had good taste)

10. Wait for her to come home.