At my graduation ceremony! (Personal photo)
And then... we were kind of stuck. We had dated for 4 years, but weren't at a point yet where we felt ready to get married. Heck, we weren't even ready to make sacrifices for each other like moving somewhere for the other person! I ended up getting a job in Portland, and Mr. Chipmunk lived with his parents in Salem (Oregon) for a few months until he started work in Americorps NCCC- in Maryland.
For those who don't know, Americorps is kind of like a national version of Peace Corps. Mr. Chipmunk was stationed in Maryland, and got shipped out across the East Coast to places ranging from New Orleans to Maine in order to help with disaster relief, impoverished communities, and environmental services. Americorps NCCC jobs last 10 months. I had just gotten a job in Portland Oregon, and anyway, even if I had moved to Maryland with Mr. Chipmunk, he was shipped out for 1-2 month stints so frequently that he was away from Maryland more than he was there. When Mr. Chipmunk left, we decided to try long distance-- after all, we had done it for four months while he was in Germany and for another four month while I was in Quebec. This time, though, was different. Within a month of Mr. Chipmunk being gone, we had a long open talk about how we both felt a need to do our own things-- it wasn't the relationship that was wrong, so much as the timing. It was the hardest break up I think either of us had ever gone through.
Although we remained long distance friends, things definitely changed. We didn't share as much, and definitely kept quiet about any type of romantic things going on with other people-- after all, we were broken up, and didn't see any need to make the other person uncomfortable! At the end of the year, Mr. Chipmunk's job in Americorps NCCC ended, and he moved back to Oregon. We were both single, and we decided to meet up and see where we stood with each other. So how did it turn out? Tune in next time to find out! (HINT: this is a wedding blog!)
Did you ever have to break up with the man you loved in order to grow independently as a person?
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