one week left.

Since Rhea mentioned the baby steps and big leaps...here's mine.

It's one week until I leave for Chicago.
And it's one week and one day until it's been ten months with him.

It was unbelievable almost ten months ago, when I met someone new who surprised and delighted me after recently dealing with a disappointing turn in my life. It was surreal when Rhea found her someone new who made her feel the same way. And then suddenly, it occurred to us our small group of friends from college were all in relationships of varying lengths but of similar sentiments.

We were all either falling in love, or had already kerplunked into it and were happily swimming in it like pairs of cuddle-fishies.

But as the months passed (and we kept count), out came the hurdles. Shari had to move to London because her visa didn't come through. Akhil moved back to India because he had visa issues as well. Tiff didn't get her visa either and soon she'll be going back home to Manila. Kat is going to med school in DC while Al stays up in New York.

As for me, I got accepted into the optometry school in Chicago. And with the exception of the first and only summer break, the short winter and spring breaks, I'll be in Chicago for the next four years. When I'm done, I'll be turning 27 that year, which is a scary thought, especially since it was that age of settling down way back when but now it's looming closer than expected. I'm thankful at least that Doug (from Singapore, getting a PhD at Caltech) is here for the next four years as well, so we won't be doing international long distance like Rhea is. But what happens after four years? Where will I go home to, LA or Singapore?

The thing is, as those who love me know, I've given the long distance thing a try once before. First it was domestic, then international, and to just really rub salt in the wound (because it did hurt), there was no e-mailing, skyping, or calling - just letters. And though I was given a time limit of two years separated, I could never really see the end to it. So when I decided to go to Chicago, and knowing how the separation could feel like, doing it for the second time seemed unthinkable. Of course, I could think of it the way Tiff said - I've grown up, matured, and learned from my mistakes. And maybe I have. I certainly hope so.

So instead of worrying about what will happen in four years, I'll make sure I have the most updated version of Skype, that my Blackberry is always fully charged, and hopefully we'll always have a plan to see each other once a month.