Gosh, I have been waiting for this day for so many days.
The last time I saw her glowing face was at Mumbai Airport. She was resuming her work after spending a few weeks at home, enjoying her brother’s wedding. That was a hard goodbye as we knew our lives will not be the same once she gets on that plane and leaves India. She was heading to Europe, and a month after that, I was supposed to head to the US.
She was going to be in Europe; I was in the US; our families in India. It sounds so much fun while saying that, but to go through it, day in and day out, it was a struggle, at least for me. I had never spent so much time away from my family and her, so it was hard to manage that communication while studying full time at UConn.
After that airport goodbyes, we remained in constant touch. We used to talk so many times during the day and night; but, it wasn’t the same as having face to face conversation with her. I missed the way she used to facepalm all the time, listening to my stories. I missed the way she used to get dimples whenever I used to tell her a joke. I missed how she used to encourage me whenever I felt down or was too frustrated with the way things were going. I used to miss all of that and her more.
When I told her about how I felt about spending so much time away from her, she was extremely encouraging and told me to focus on my studies. It was her idea to visit the US for a couple weeks when I would be on Winter vacation. I was on cloud nine hearing that and started romanticizing things. Containing this excitement, I read many articles and talking to many friends to better know the process of getting a US visitor visa for an Indian citizen living in Europe. It was a weird setting, but the research and talk helped a lot and she could secure the visa. I was overjoyed to know that and had a good couple of months to make all the travel arrangements and accommodation.
Looking back at this, the only thing I regret now is I should have know how to drive. I came to the US in August and she got her visa in October and was going to land in December, so even though I had a good couple of months, being a newbie, I lazed out of learning how to drive (which is not at all difficult, let me tell you). If I would have know how to drive, her trip would have been so smooth and more enjoyable.
Anyway, keeping all the distractions and blabbering aside, let us focus on this day.
I was living in Hartford during this time and she was landing at JFK. That meant I had to take a bus to get to New York City and then take a subway from NYC to JFK. This was all new for me and I was learning along the way. As a student in US, the most important thing for me was my finances, so I made sure I book the cheapest bus from Hartford to New York City and cut costs while traveling. When I got off from my bus and stepped out of the bus terminal, I knew NYC was crowded, but didn’t expect it to be so much. It was a moment of epiphany to me. I didn’t know that “Times Square” could be a bus stop or metro stop too. That one single realization just blew my mind. I just shyly chuckled and tried enjoying the view before it gets too late. I still had a couple hours before her flight was supposed to land.
I roamed the entirety of Times Square. I could literally see the entire world convoluting at a single block. There were people from all parts of the world. There were people everywhere, ranging from kids to elderly. There were street performers, trying to earn their honest living. There were people wearing cosplay costumes of Marvel Superheroes, posing for pictures with tourists. If you have been to Times Square, you know what I mean. I spent roughly an hour there. It was time to catch a subway and meet my special person at JFK.
It was a struggle for me to make sense of NYC’s subway system. I had to talk to many people before this trip and those conversations helped tremendously. With luck and some help from the fellow passengers, I somehow managed to get to JFK and tried looking for her flight and arrival gate number. I was at the gate in no time and that’s when the actual waiting game began for me. When I was in Times Square, I was lost in my thoughts and having fun at the moment and the wait didn’t bother me that much, but at JFK, there was nothing much to do, so waiting for her was really a test for me. But, as an obedient boyfriend, I waited and waited.
Her flight status changed from In progress to Landed to Immigration and what not. I was dying to see her smiling face and thinking about how I would greet her. I had a good 30 minutes to myself to think about how far we have come and how we were adulting. I remembered the first time we talked. I remembered the first time we held hands, the first time we went out, the first time we went on a date. Over the last couple years, we grew from two people liking each other to two responsible adults who were working hard towards their respective dreams and also harder on their relationship and not giving up. I was excited for the next couple weeks as we had already planned our places in US to check out and have fun!
When I was lost in all these thoughts, I was suddenly awakened by the sweet realization that I would get to see her in a few minutes. I tried calling her, her phone was still switched off. I tried again after a few minutes and that’s when she picked it up. I cannot tell you the awesome feeling I had when I heard her voice and told her that I was waiting for her outside. She said she’ll be out in a couple minutes. I was just waiting for that moment.
& there she was!
I couldn’t believe my eyes! There she was! She looked tired for obvious reasons, but even then, her face was fully radiant and I lit up after looking at her smiling face and her dimples. I still remember the first thing she said. It was not “I missed you” or “I love you”. Those first words were “Abe tu andar kasa ala” (How did you come inside?). It was so funny and still brings a chuckle to my face. It was a moment in the making for the last couple of months and I was extremely proud of us that we were working on this relationship and making sacrifices and appeasing each other.
After catching up for a few minutes, it was time to head home. I told her the arrangements. From JFK, I had booked a shared shuttle as I didn’t want her to go through the same ordeal that I went through while coming to JFK. The shuttle was both convenient and cheap and we desperately needed that due to the cold December weather in NYC. We were in luck as we didn’t need to wait that long for our shuttle. As soon as we got inside the shuttle, she dozed off, trying to catch up on her sleep and I was still coming back to the reality that I had her hand in mine. It was cute!
We were home within a couple of hours and I told her to freshen up while I heat up some food for her. As it was her birthday on December 10th, I had put some decorations and gifts for her in my bedroom which she loved and gave me an exciting response that she always did. I wasn’t a great cook, but my roommates helped me become a decent one over the last couple of months, and I had learnt how to bake a cake too, so that was one more surprise for her and glad that she loved it.
It was a good day and what started for me to just receiving her at the airport, fulfilled me with joy and helped me realize how much I missed her!
Enjoy the pictures from that day!
Looking forward to the trips in the coming couple weeks.
stochasticity 