…a matter of seconds.

As of today we have been together 938 days, a few days short of 1,000.

People often say things like, ‘Today is the first day of the rest of my life’. Every now and then you meet a person who meant what they said and you see huge changes within them. You see how much happier they have become and it makes you wonder about them. Why? Why were they able to leave everything behind them and start new?

On February 28th, 2009 – a Saturday morning – I woke up at 7.35 and I couldn’t help but smile. I was happy, truly happy and I told myself that today was the first day of the rest of my life. It was the morning after I first met A and I knew – don’t ask me how – that a new chapter has begun.

As of today we have been together 56,280 hours, a few hours short of 100,000.

People often say things like, ‘This has been the longest hour of my life’. Sometimes, they mean it, sometimes it did indeed feel like an eternity to them. And they are glad that the hour is over, they are glad that this dreadful time of their lives finally passed.

On March 14th, 2009 – a Saturday morning – I woke up at 7.35 and I couldn’t help but smile. I was happy, truly happy and yet still, I had to face the longest hour of my life. I was waiting for A to come and pick me up for our very first date. I changed my outfit about a 100 times and somehow, nothing seemed to be right, but I managed and then I sat down and waited.

As of today we have been together 3,376,800 minutes, a few minutes short of 4,000,000.

People often say things like, ‘The minute I realized it, I knew a decision had to be made’. Sometimes, they mean it, sometimes they had to make a difficult decision and sometimes it turned out well for them. Sometimes it didn’t.

On August 6th, 2009 – a Thursday afternoon – about 6pm – I was sitting at the Philadelphia airport waiting for my airplane to take off. I was waiting and debating, I knew I had to make a decision soon. I knew I had two choices. I could either walk out of the airport, run downstairs, trying to catch A before he left the airport to go home or I could catch my airplane and would have to start our long-distance-relationship. Two minutes before the last call, I got up and moved towards my gate. I slowly walked down the walk-through and hoped for the best.

As of today we have been together 202,608,000 seconds, a few seconds short of 300,000,000.

People often say things like, ‘It’s only a matter of time’. A matter of time until you break it or make it. Their paths differ from each other, they very much differ from mine as well. Sometimes these people become cynical, sometimes they become hateful, most of the time, they want what I have. Not with A, obviously, but they want the love, that we share. They want to be able to start their next chapter with their significant other together.

On August 16th, 2011 – a Tuesday morning about 7.30 am – we checked in our bags, went through security and sat down on our seats in the airplane. Excited? Yes. Scared? Yes. Happy? Yes. Worried? Yes. All of these above but see, it only took me a second to fall in love with A, within a matter of seconds I knew A and I were meant for each other and the second we touched down in Oslo, I knew, I had nothing to worry about, after all, A and I were finally able to start our new chapter together.