Holding on tight...

So I don't really know where to begin.

I'm Caitie. But how do I define myself? I'll say it the best way I know how:
I'm in love. I'm a Marine Corps girlfriend.

Some people think that you shouldn't let your relationships define who you are. This is true, in most cases. But we aren't most people. Neither are any of my fellow USMC gals. We don't have typical relationships, we don't fall in love the same way most people do. It's not the same feeling when a civilian boyfriend comes home from work and cuddles on the couch beside you. We wait and pray and hope to God that nothing bad happens to them. This has been said over and over, repeated so many times that even we get tired of hearing it. But it's the truth. It can never be compared to a weekend business trip or a summer away from each other. It's just not the same, and will never be the same.
I can't spend every waking moment with my boyfriend Kirk. Why? Because he leaves. He's missed my birthday every year since we started dating. He's also missed every anniversary in 4 years of dating.

If you're not a Marine Corps girlfriend/fiance/wife, you probably now think that I am insane. You might think it crazy that I have spent every summer of my college career without the man that I love. You might see me as a lunatic when I tell you that I'll soon be dealing with him leaving for Afghanistan. You might worry about the fact that I constantly wait for the man that I love, wrecking my nerves and causing me to break down.

But that's our life. We wait, we pray, and we love each other all the more for it. That's our promise.

I'm sorry to be so depressing on my first post. It's been a long night without him. He's been gone since early May, and though I try to be strong and I try to keep up a tough facade, sometimes I do get incredibly sad.

Praying for my Marine, and all of my USMC gals...