It's over.

Chicago is done and dealt with, and all my new purchases are hanging proudly in my closet. Classes have started once more, and the happiness of shopping has ebbed away. I feel a little depressed.

Spending my life thousands of miles away from the woman I love isn't easy. It's not the temptation or the loneliness that really gets to me. I don't worry about me, because I am just awesome in that aspect. I worry about her. She's always somewhere in my head, floating around in one way or another.

• I worry about whether she's eating right, because I'm not there to make her food taste awesomer.
• I worry about whether she's smiling enough, because I'm not there to look dumb and make her laugh.
• I worry about whether she's sleeping warm, because she loves the cold too much and I'm not there to throw the blanket over her.
• I worry about whether she's resting enough, because I'm not there to do her work.
• I worry about whether she's going out and about enough, because I'm not there as a reason for her to kick me out of the house to move my lazy butt.
• I worry about whether she has enough groceries for the week, because I'm not there for her to use as a driver and a shopping-bag-carrier.
• I worry about whether she's living life the way I imagined my loved one should live, because I'm not there to remind her of what life is about.

I know I can enjoy life here when she's back home. Everything can be put in a positive light; each trip I go to, I imagine what it would be like with her by my side. Things we could do, stuff we could see, the various situations we would be in and how she would look. The little things are always there in the back of my head. Her face lighting up at the prospect of shopping, the sight of snow maybe, the joy of a clear day even. I'm wistful, but it's all right.

It's never easy to have that certain someone far away. It's always hard to make things right again when an argument happens, whatever the reason that argument started. It's almost impossible to run on over and just be there for that person.

Distance makes things harder. It always does. What people always forget is that distance never makes things impossible though. People make things happen because they want to. Love is powerful as long as you want it to be powerful, because you make it powerful with your own feelings. Things can work out if you want them to.

I want things to work out. And they are. Slowly, but surely, life goes on, and she'll be right there with me all the way.